By Ian S Palmer
Original article; https://www.sportsbetlistings.com/boxing/andy-cruz-vs-brayan-zamarripa-rodriguez-betting-odds-and-prediction/22907/
2021 Olympic lightweight gold medalist Andy Cruz of Cuba fights for the third time as a pro this Saturday, February, 24th when he takes on Brayan Zamarripa Rodriguez of Mexico in Orlando, Florida. The 10-round tilt for Cruz’s IBF International Lightweight Title can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Cruz last fought in December when he stopped Jovanni Straffon in the third round while Rodriguez last saw action in December as well when he halted Geovanni de Jesus Godinez in the eighth round.
The 28-year-old Cruz reportedly went 140-9 as an amateur star with 10 Ko’s. He captured gold medals at the 2017 Pan American Championships; the 2015 and 2019 Pan American Games; the 2017, 2019 and 2021 World Championships and the Olympics. He’s been training under the tutelage of Derek Ennis and is based in Miami, Florida after inking a three-year deal with Matchroom Boxing. Cruz measures 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 68.5-inch reach.
Cruz possesses excellent speed, timing, ring IQ and jab but isn’t known to be the most powerful puncher out there as he steps into the ring with a mark of 2-0 with 1 KO and has boxed 13 pro rounds as he beat veteran Juan Carlos Burgos by a 10-round unanimous decision in his pro debut last July and captured the vacant IFB International Lightweight Title. He ten stopped Straffon in his first defence. Cruz kicked opp his pro career by working with Ennis and his son Jaron, the current interim IBF Welterweight champion.
Cruz beat Keyshawn Davis several times as an amateur, usually in gold-medal matches, and also beat Elvis Rodriguez several times. In addition, he also competed in the World Series of Boxing several years ago. He’s now hoping to turn his amateur success into a pro world title but after taking on Burgos in his debut he has arguably taken backward steps in quality of opposition since then.
Zamarripa Rodriguez is a 26-year-old southpaw who makes the ring walk with a record of 14-2 with 5 Ko’s and has boxed 77 rounds since turning pro in 2015 as a teenager. Unfortunately there’s no height and reach information in him so we don’t know how he stacks up size-wise against Cruz. We do know that he isn’t the hardest hitter out there though as just 35.7 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. However, five of his last eight wins have come by knockout.
The two defeats on Zamarripa Rodriguez’s record came at the hands of Samuel Royal by a five-round technical decision in 2016 and to Angel Fierro via a 10-round split decision just two fights ago in September in a shot at the WBO NABO Lightweight Belt. This will be the first fight outside of Mexico for Zamarripa Rodriguez and he’ll be taking a big step up in class as just half of his 16 opponents have entered the ring with a winning record and they’ve mostly been journeymen.
Prediction…
Zamarripa Rodriguez is durable with a good chin even though Cruz isn’t really known for his power. Cruz is an elite boxer though with plenty of skill and speed and combination punching is his strong point. Zamarripa Rodriguez should hang in there for a few rounds and could even last the distance but he’s not on the same level as Cruz and that’s going to result in another victory for the former Olympic Champion.
