Cruz vs Moran Predictions: Handy Andy brings more than Moran

Boxing’s hottest prospect returns to the ring this Saturday, August 3 when Andy Cruz takes on Antonio Moran. The fight takes place at SMO Stadium in Los Angeles as part of a Riyadh Season card. DAZN PPV will screen the event, which is headlined by Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov.

Here are my Cruz vs Moran predictions as we get our latest look at the Cuban wonder.

Cruz enjoyed one of the great modern amateur careers. The 28-year-old is a three-time World Amateur champion, two-time Pan American Games gold medalist and the Tokyo 2020 lightweight gold medalist. He won the latter by beating America’s highly-touted Keyshawn Davis, himself now an 11-0 world-ranked pro.

Cruz has got himself into the world rankings in just three fights. As is becoming increasingly common for experienced Olympians crossing over, he has foregone stat-padding excursions against journeymen. Instead, Cruz has spent his nascent days as a pro in learning fights against experienced, quality men.

A debut against two-time world title challenger Juan Carlos Burgos was a fine start to Cruz’s campaign. The Mexican has never been stopped and has tested world class operators like Mikey Garcia, Devin Haney and Roman Martinez, drawing with the latter. Cruz acquitted himself well in taking a unanimous decision against Burgos.

Tough Mexican Jovanni Straffon was next. ‘Impacto’ is well-known on English shores for sparking James Tennyson out in one round and losing to a resurgent Maxi Hughes in a huge upset. Cruz made light work of Straffon, taking him out in three rounds. 

In his last outing, Cruz posted a shut-out against Brayan Rodriguez. This trio of victories has put Cruz into the reckoning at world level. All four major sanctioning bodies have the Cuban in their rankings, with his placing ranging from 15th all the way up to seventh.

Moran is another experienced fighter with a history of stretching elite boxers. The 31-year-old has extended Arnold Barboza, Jamaine Ortiz and Jose Pedraza. The only man to knock him out in 37 fights was Haney. Moran has won 30 of those bouts, indicating that he has no intention of being Cruz’s punching bag here.

With that being said, I think Cruz is just too good. Good enough for the aforementioned punching bag scenario to play out. This is a truly generational talent we are watching, one of the defining amateurs of the era. If he can transport even a portion of what he did in the unpaid ranks into the pros, we are in for an incredible ride.

Cruz vs Moran Fight Odds

Cruz is a whopping 1/33 to score his fourth pro win here. Moran is 10/1 to do the unthinkable while the draw is priced at 16/1.

Cruz vs Moran Full Card

Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov; For the WBO interim super welterweight title and Madrimov's WBA super welterweight title 

Andy Ruiz vs. Jarrell Miller; Heavyweight 

Jared Anderson vs. Martin Bakole; Heavyweight 

Isaac Cruz vs. Jose Valenzuela; For Cruz's WBA super lightweight title 

David Morrell vs. Radivoje Kalajdzic; Light heavyweight 

Andy Cruz vs. Antonio Moran; Lightweight 

Steve Nelson vs. Marcos Ramon Vazquez; Super middleweight 

Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Michal Bulk; Welterweight

Cruz vs Moran Prediction

I think this fight will be every bit the procession that the odds indicate. Cruz is a truly special talent and Moran can’t compete with him. For this reason I fancy Cruz to win this fight by knockout at 8/11. I just think he is too good in every department for Moran to handle.

You can find all our latest boxing betting tips and analysis at our Betfred Insights Boxing page and our latest boxing odds here.