Andy Cruz dominates Crawford-Madrimov with seventh-round KO

LOS ANGELES – In the shadows of BMO Stadium, Bozy Ennis could be heard saying over and over again, “There, he doesn't like that!” as his Cuban successor, Andy Cruz, stayed in the pocket and threw left jabs at Mexican veteran Antonio Moran.

Cruz opened the pay-per-view portion of the WBA junior middleweight fight between Terence Crawford and Israel Madrimov on Saturday afternoon with the aim of showing the boxing world that he intends to win a world title.

Cruz (4-0, 2 knockouts) took a big step forward by stopping Moran at 2:59 of the seventh round, taking the first stoppage in his young career along the way. It marked the third time Moran (30-7-1, 21 KOs) has been stopped.

“I'm very happy, mission accomplished,” said Cruz. “The first objective was to win the war. Winning the battle at range was a bonus. I said before the war it won't be easy. I was able to show that I am at this level. I can go higher.”

For the first time in his young professional career, Cruz was hit hard, when Moran landed a left to Cruz's right cheek in the first round. But the muscular Cuban lightweight found his rhythm, and began to support Moran.

Every time Moran throws a lazy jab, Cruz makes Moran pay with a hard counter to the head.

With 30 seconds left in the fourth, Moran surprised Cruz with a left hook to the head, rocking him. It's the biggest problem Cruz has ever been in as a professional. Cruz eventually left, greeted by Ennis as he backed into the corner about backing up and letting Moran come at him.

“It was a difficult time when you don't go into boxing expecting to be beaten,” said Cruz.

In the fifth, Cruz planted Moran with a right to the body that caused Moran trouble.

Moran, with growing confidence, overtook Cruz in sixth place. Moran was there to be beaten and Cruz did not disappoint. But Moran kept coming. In the last minute of the sixth, Moran connected on some body shots.

Between six and seven, Ennis tried to persuade Cruz to let go of his hands, insisting that if he could do that, he could stop Moran.

In the seventh, Cruz found another gear. With blood dripping from his nose, Cruz pressed Moran. With 10 seconds left in the seventh, Cruz got on top of Moran's head, knocking him back. Cruz followed his injured opponent to the ropes and landed another crushing right.

Moran was on his feet. At first, referee Gerard White was in the process of giving Moran a count, when Moran stumbled into the ring and White knocked him out at 2:59 of the seventh round of the scheduled 10-round fight.

“My goal is a world championship this time next year,” Cruz told The Ring before the fight. “I know I have to take tough steps to get there.”

One of them arrived on Saturday under the scorching sun against a tough veteran.

Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sports writer who has worked for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.