Andy Cruz Freed To Join Matchroom After Court Ruling

By Graham Ilford: The 2020 Olympic gold medalist is now free to continue his career under promoter Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing following a US federal judge in the Northern District of California ruling that a promotional agreement between the unbeaten Cruz and New Champion Promotions (NCP) is invalid.

Carlos Linares reported the news today on his Substack site regarding the case of the unbeaten Andy Cruz. This is perfect for the Cuban talent, as it now allows Matchroom to promote him to the death. He’s pure 24k gold and could be the best fighter in the lightweight division. 135-9 as an amateur in Cuba, Andy defeated American Keyshawn Davis four times, including in the finals of the 2020 Olympics.

Naming him “My son,” Cruz attempted to lure Keyshawn into fighting him in 2024 and 2025 with no luck. He’s had the same problem with Shakur Stevenson.

Although Hearn put a lot of time into promoting Shakur Stevenson when he was with Matchroom, he may have been overlooking the golden one in his stable, Andy Cruz. The two-year pro has been held back until now, and he’s ready to spring.

Cruz has been the invisible man since he came out of the Olympics, as none of the top lightweights have shown an eagerness to fight him. He finally forced the issue by defeating Hironori Mishiro by a fifth-round knockout in an IBF lightweight title eliminator on June 14, 2025.

What this means is that Matchroom will promote the Cuban talent and lead him towards his first world title fight in two months against IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) on January 24, 2026, at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, Nevada. Matchroom still needs to confirm the date.

Last month, on October 23, 2025, Matchroom won the purse bid for the Muratalla-Cruz fight with a winning bid of $888,888 to Top Rank’s $550,000. That means that Hearn’s company, Matchroom, will be in charge of the event, where and when it will be staged. As already reported, January 24 at the Fontainebleau is the location.

Veteran boxing columnist Graham Ilford brings dry humor and long-earned perspective to the sport.