Ronald Cruz Faces Tough Test in Antwone Smith on NBC Sports Friday Night

Ronald Cruz, of Bethlehem, Pa., by way of Manati, Puerto Rico, will face the toughest test of his young career this Friday when he squares off against Antwone Smith of Miami at the Sands Resort and Casino in Bethlehem.

The fight will serve as the opening bout for the Gabriel Rosado vs. Charles Whitaker IBF junior middleweight title eliminator on NBC Sports Network's Fight Night. 

Cruz will be attempting to defend his recently won WBC Continental Americas welterweight title for the first time against the rugged former prospect. 

Cruz won the title in his last outing, a 12-round drubbing of former amateur standout, Cleveland’s Prenice Brewer. Smith (21-4-1, 12 KOs), who has fought his entire career at either welterweight or super welterweight, will be a much stronger foe than Brewer, who has fought mainly at lightweight and junior welterweight. 

This will be the second time in as many fights that Cruz will be featured on the NBC Sports Fight Night series. Smith is no stranger to fighting under the TV lights, either, as he has been featured on ESPN's Friday Night Fights and on the Showtime series ShoBox in the past. 

Cruz got a late start in boxing and didn’t take up the sport until he was 19. In his short 13-month amateur career, he went 25-3 before turning pro in 2009. Since joining the pro ranks, Cruz has rattled off 17 straight wins with 12 knockouts and no defeats. 

Cruz understands that this is a tough fight and thinks it will be fought at close quarters. 

“He’s a good inside fighter,” Cruz recently said. “So I am looking for him to try and bang with me and on the inside.” 

If the fight is fought on the inside, Cruz says his body punching will be the difference-maker in the matchup, but he says he has other advantages, too.

“I am a natural body puncher so that will come naturally, but I have all the stuff (boxing skills) that I could use on him,” said the confident prospect. “ I may to try to box him on the outside when the time is right, and I will show a lot of (different) things in this fight so I am looking forward to that.” 

Although Smith is the bigger fighter and has fought tougher competition during his career, Cruz sees that as a positive for his own career moving forward. 

“I am aware that he’s a strong fighter, and I am not intimidated,” said Cruz about his opponent Smith. “I think that will make me perform that much better and to know that I am fighting a good quality fighter tomorrow night.”

Cruz is convinced that a win over an opponent of Smith’s caliber would elevate his standing in the boxing world. 

“I think it would be a big boost to my career,” Cruz said. “It will show that I can beat a fighter that only world-class fighters have beat, so that puts me in that category when I beat him.” 

After scoring eight straight wins by stoppage, Cruz has gone to the scorecards in his last two fights, but he doesn’t think this fight will make it the full 12 rounds.

“Looking at my last two fights, I feel like now I would have been able to stop both of them (Allen Conyers and Prenice Brewer). I am happy I got the experience, but I am not too happy that they made it to the decision, and I am not looking forward to that happening again tomorrow,” said the knockout-minded Cruz.

“He’s a tough opponent so I think I’ll take him out in the later rounds after he wears down.”

Michael Walters is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

You can follow Michael Walters on Twitter @MWalters202.