Oscar Pick
Feb 18 2025
The 25-year-old dethroned Denys Berinchyk last Friday, producing a ruthless and technically sharp performance to claim the WBO strap with an emphatic fourth-round finish.
In doing so, the American was able to capture his first major belt in just 14 professional bouts, with Vasyl Lomachenko being the only champion at 135lbs to trump his feat.
But now, while Davis, 13-0 (9 KOs), has set his sights on unifications, he equally recognises that a clash with Cruz, 5-0 (2 KOs), must take place before he moves up to 140lbs.
Following his scintillating amateur career, the highly-skilled Cuban is yet to establish himself as a world level operator, beating only limited opposition in his five outings.
But with a third-place IBF ranking to his name, Cruz has nonetheless placed himself in a strong position to challenge for world honours before long.
Naturally, the fight that holds the greatest narrative is against Davis, who he beat four times in the unpaid ranks and, most notably, defeated in an enthralling final at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Yet still, Davis remains convinced that those decisions could have easily swung in his favour, suggesting that Cruz’s amateur style was what caught the eye of the judges.
In any case, the Olympic silver medallist has expressed his interest in taking on the 29-year-old, simply believing that he is a level above.
“I think he’s just not ready yet; he’s got a lot of grooming to do in this sport,” Davis told Ariel Helwani.
“I gave him his flowers for being a great amateur, but when it comes to the sport of boxing, and being a professional, I’m great at that.
“When the time is right, I will fight this man. But I’m not thinking about what happened in the amateur days. I know he didn’t beat me.
“I would love to fight him just to shut everybody up. I will knock him out in the professional ranks.”
Davis added that he plans to campaign at super-lightweight in the next few years, but will stay at 135lbs should a potential showdown with Cruz materialise.
