Andy Cruz and Dalton Smith’s future, Naoya Inoue’s dominance, Timothy Bradley’s legacy

In this week’s mailbag, we tackle Andy Cruz’s future in the lightweight division, Dalton Smith’s continued development at junior welterweight, respect for what Naoya Inoue is doing in boxing, and respect as well for what Timothy Bradley accomplished himself.

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ANDY CRUZ IS A PROBLEM FOR HIS FELLOW LIGHTWEIGHTS

Andy Cruz is the real deal and fun to watch. I can’t wait to see him against one of the big names. He gives everyone fits and probably beats most of them

Declan Warrington’s response: So far, Cruz does appear to have it all. Amateur success is no guarantee of success as a professional, but winning an Olympic gold medal, and doing so by beating a fighter of the caliber of Keyshawn Davis, is as promising as an amateur career gets.

I happened to be ringside at Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-John Ryder when Cruz was unveiled as Matchroom’s latest signing, and heard Eddie Hearn describing him as “possibly the best signing I’ve ever made.” If everything Hearn has ever said was quoted back to him, he’d quickly be made to look foolish, but Cruz’s potential – and it shouldn’t be overlooked that he’s 29 – means it isn’t unthinkable that, in some contexts, that’s what he might prove. Hearn also, that night, said he’d be willing to match him with any of the world’s leading lightweights immediately – he’s since signed Shakur Stevenson, so the fact Cruz and Stevenson aren’t being linked also shouldn’t be overlooked.

Regardless, when Cruz turned professional in 2023, the prospect of him, Stevenson, Gervonta Davis and Devin Haney – who then was still the undisputed champion – being involved in a modern four-way rivalry was incredibly appealing, and the lightweight division remained the best in the world. Haney might struggle to make junior welterweight, but Keyshawn Davis is increasingly impressive at lightweight, so it is to be hoped that the two Davis, Stevenson and Cruz can provide that nature of rivalry instead.

GIVE DALTON SMITH A TITLE SHOT AT JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT

Dalton Smith looks ferocious. Now is the time to throw him in for a world title. He could get better as he gets older but right now he has the mix of confidence and momentum that gives him a great chance against anyone

Declan Warrington’s response: A year ago, when Devin Haney remained undefeated and when Teofimo Lopez was yet to labor to victory over Jamaine Ortiz, the junior welterweight division looked the best in the world. Subriel Matias also appeared dangerous. Haney then lost to Ryan Garcia (the relevant circumstances have been documented by this publication and therefore don’t need revisiting). Against Ortiz and then Steve Claggett, Lopez struggled to make anything like the impression he did against Josh Taylor, and then Matias lost to Liam Paro, who has since lost to Richardson Hitchins. In short, the division has become considerably more open, and one in which a fighter like Dalton Smith is capable of making an impression.

Timing can make or break careers. Smith not only looks on the verge of being ready for a career-defining test, he’s very big for the weight and eventually may struggle to make it, which could mean he’s running out of time. But since impressing in victory over Jose Zepeda in March 2024, Smith has fought only one round – when stopping the overmatched Walid Ouizza – which means that there’s a risk of him being underprepared, at least in the context of momentum and seasoning, for a fight for a world title. After one more fight – one of the right nature – he ought to be ready.

But a fight between Smith and his domestic rival Adam Azim is more appealing than any involving a world title. It would also potentially do more for Smith’s legacy, and might even be the fight he needs to be as ready as he can be for a fight against one of the best junior welterweights in the world.

PUSHING BACK HARD AGAINST NAOYA INOUE’S CRITICS

One of the criteria that made several all time greats who they were was sustained dominance. There’s something to be said for completely cleaning out divisions of all credible threats. How many fighters in history have beaten all the other champions and then completely cleaned out the division of possible challengers, and done that in two consecutive divisions, working from the top down? Take a look around and see how many names you can come up with. Oleksandr Usyk and Terence Crawford both took fights to settle into their divisions. They didn’t go straight for the king. Naoya Inoue (“As Naoya Inoue pushes himself to the brink, fans continue to push harder”) has taken on the best available guy in the division in his debut three times.

Let’s add that Inoue is doing this to fighters with all different styles, and that half of his career has been against fighters good enough to win world titles, many in multiple divisions, and nearly 85% has been against fighters good enough to earn a mandatory shot.

And you think he’s not challenging himself? Do you have any idea what kind of challenge it takes to get in the ring at all, let alone at the world title level? Then to risk it all in a new division, before you know what kind of performance you’ll be able to have, against the best guy? And then the next best guy, and the next best guy?

In my opinion, Usyk and Artur Beterbiev are the only other fighters in the four-belt era who can be reasonably said to have completely cleaned out his division, and that’s leaving aside David Benavidez and David Morrell who got ducked for years by Canelo, and in Usyk’s case at heavyweight, that’s basically just the three guys. He hasn’t fought Zhilei Zhang, Martin Bakole, Joe Joyce, Agit Kabayel, Andy Ruiz, and indeed most of the guys who have been top 10 during his reign. And both those guys took tuneups to accomplish what they have. No other active boxer has taken the risks that Inoue has and still delivered. The notion that he hasn’t challenged himself is, frankly, absurd and can only be adopted absent context. 

Tris Dixon’s response: I’m inclined to agree. I think because the wider public doesn’t know Inoue’s opponents, it hurts him to a degree. Not to people like us, who look on in wonder at all he has achieved. Instead, we have had to hear about him going up to fight Gervonta “Tank” Davis, when we know there are plenty of names in and around Inoue’s own weight class. 

I found it interesting that fight manager Mike Altamura told us he reckoned Inoue could, picking his spots, win a belt at 130lbs. That would be utterly heroic. Even  the fact the idea is being entertained – albeit down the line – shows what a phenom we have in this era. 

And I think we forget that Inoue has checked so many boxes that we always seem to want to check. He hasn’t just blasted everyone. He’s been through a war in the first fight with Nonito Donaire. He climbed off the deck against Luis Nery. You can be sure of one thing: He’s challenged himself enough to become one of the most respected fighters in the sport, and more than enough to become the darling of Japanese boxing, which we all know is riding high.

TIMOTHY BRADLEY’S WINS STAND THE TEST OF TIME

The thing about Timothy Bradley (“Despite concussions and CTE risks, Tim Bradley says boxing makes him complete”) as a fighter was he didn’t do anything particularly special in there. Like he wasn’t the fastest or most powerful or the most athletic, but he was solid in a lot of areas and he had a good engine and great chin, and he could box with you and he could stand and fight. His win over Juan Manuel Marquez was impressive to me, because that night he showed a lot of his ability and he basically outclassed Marquez in there. Also, Bradley’s earlier wins at junior welterweight against Junior Witter, Devon Alexander and Lamont Peterson were also good wins at the time because they were the guys at 140.

Kieran Mulvaney’s response: I consider Bradley a credit to the sport for many reasons. I think he’d probably agree with you that he wasn’t exactly the strongest or fastest guy, but his heart and conditioning were superlative, he had a powerful will to win – and he wrapped up that package in some sweet boxing skills.

He absolutely deserves credit for those relatively early wins you mentioned, which showcase the fact that he consistently took on and beat quality opposition. The Marquez win was especially impressive to me, not just because he outboxed a fellow future Hall of Famer, but because he did so nine months after a fight against Ruslan Provodnikov that left him with severe health issues. 

His openness about those issues – and his willingness to use his platform to talk about topics that others would like to sweep under the carpet, including PEDs and the need to look after retired boxers – is another reason why I think boxing is genuinely fortunate to have him around.

Want to be featured in the mailbag? Comment or ask a question in the comments section below. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. We also may select readers’ comments from other BoxingScene stories.