Steve Cruz

Steve Cruz is a WBA featherweight title holder. He hailed from Fort Worth, Texas, and was born on November 2, 1963. His boxing statistics revealed that he has a height of 5 inches and 6 feet. He also has a professional record of 37 wins, 19 of them knockouts, 8 losses, and 0 draws.

Cruz, also known as Super Kid, was Donald Curry’s stable mate. Curry, at that time, was the reigning champion in the Weltweight division. He was also Cruz’s sparring partner. It could be assumed that a lot of the techniques he learned and which brought him victory during his early professional year had been developed during their sparring moments.

Cruz debuted on the ring n 1981. He fought against Pascual Aranda in his own hometown. After that, for three straight years, he never suffered any loss except with Lenny Valdez. He also caught people’s attention because of his précised punches and quick moves against his opponents.

Still, he was unheard of in the boxing world—until his fight against Barry McGuigan.

McGuigan, around that time, already had a name and was slated to fight for the Featherweight title against Azumah Nelson if he could just win over Cruz. However, knowing that this was the opportunity he had long been waiting for, Cruz decided to fight with all his might. The bout lasted for 15 rounds, and a unanimous decision was declared in favor of Cruz. The great fight was also called the best one of the year.

However, his victory didn’t last long. The year after, he had to defend his title against Antonio Esparragoza. Luck was not on his side. After then, he tried to shy away from the boxing arena but went back on August 6, 1989 to take the Featherweight title of IBF from Jorge Paez. He lost.

In 1992, he challenged Paul Hodkinson for the WBC Featherweight title but was knocked out and thus lost the bout in the third round.