Terry Flanagan vs. Orlando Cruz: Fight Time, Date, Live-Stream and TV Info

Terry Flanagan makes the fourth defence of his WBO lightweight title on Saturday when he takes on Orlando Cruz at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.

With middleweight Billy Joe Saunders' long-overdue first defence of his WBO title against Artur Akavov pushed back to December 3, Flanagan and Cruz take over top billing in the Welsh capital.

Also on the card, Tommy Langford and Sam Sheedy meet for the British middleweight title vacated earlier this year by Chris Eubank Jr.

At lightweight, Thomas Stalker and Craig Evans continue their domestic rivalry. The pair drew twice in 2015, so both will be hoping to make it third time lucky in a contest for the WBO European lightweight strap.

When: Saturday, November 26, 10 p.m. GMT (5 p.m. ET)

Where: Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales

TV: BoxNation (UK)

Live stream: BoxNation (UK)

Grand Plans

Turbo Terry (31-0, 12 KOs) needs a boost. The Englishman had hoped 2016 would see him get the chance to fight the leading names at 135 pounds.

Instead, his career has flatlined. With all due respect to Derry Mathews and Mzonke Fana, his last two opponents, they weren't the names Flanagan hoped to face this year.

However, unification fights against world champions Anthony Crolla, Jorge Linares and Dejan Zlaticanin all failed to materialise—although it wasn't for a lack of effort on promoter Frank Warren's part.

"We did explore trying to get the Jorge Linares fight for him because it makes so much sense to determine who the No. 1 lightweight really is," Warren wrote on his own website. 

"Linares beat Anthony Crolla fairly comprehensively, and it wasn’t really such a close fight that it called for a rematch, but that is what they have gone with in March."

Flanagan now has to wait to see how the land lies. A defence against mandatory challenger Felix Verdejo was on the cards, only for the Puerto Rican to be injured in a motorcycle crash. That fight could still happen early in 2017 once Verdejo is fully healthy again.

However, there could also be the option to head in a new direction.

"I would jump at the chance of fighting for the world title at the next weight," Flanagan told Nick Parkinson of ESPN.co.uk. "If Terence Crawford is stepping up to welterweight then I would happily jump up."

For now, any grand plans for the future have to be put to one side.

Flanagan—a southpaw who, at the age of 27, may only just be reaching his peak years in the paid ranks—has to make sure he doesn't look beyond the dangerous Cruz.

Securing lucrative fights, either at home or abroad, has been a tricky enough task when in possession of a world title. Those negotiations become even tougher if he surrenders his main bargaining chip.

Stepping Up

Alex Menendez/Getty Images

Cruz (25-4-1, 13 KOs) wants to make a statement on Saturday, as the Puerto Rican aims to become boxing's first openly gay world champion.

"It’s a big moment for me, a big moment for my community, a big moment for my country, Puerto Rico," he told the Associated Press (h/t BoxingScene.com).

"I want that other (gay) athletes are not scared to walk into the society. Don’t be scared. Be happy with your life, and happy with your decision. All people are the same."

The problem for Cruz, however, is he's taking a huge leap of faith in agreeing to face Flanagan in Wales.

The 35-year-old's last four fights—all victories—were 10-rounders at super featherweight.

His only previous bid to win a world title came at featherweight in October 2013, and he was knocked out by Orlando Salido in Round 7 of their clash for the vacant WBO strap.

Cruz was also stopped by Cornelius Lock (in 2009) and Daniel Ponce De Leon (in 2010) in bouts for minor belts earlier in his career.

If you're looking for notable wins on his record, the very best of luck. In truth, considering his boxing CV, the southpaw is fortunate to be getting such a big opportunity in a completely new weight class.

That doesn't mean he has no chance of victory, though.

Cruz just needs to find a way to not only cope with the step up in weight but also a marked height difference. At 5'4" tall, the challenger is five-and-a-half inches shorter than his foe.

Flanagan is strong for the weight, too. In a real scrap against Mathews in March, he matched fire with fire to such an extent that he even had a point deducted in Round 8 for illegal use of the forearm.

Although he has a career knockout ratio of 43 per cent, Cruz needs to hope he hits hard enough up at lightweight to keep his bigger opponent at bay.

Prediction

In his column for the Daily Star at the end of October, promoter Warren claimed Cruz has the ability to give Flanagan a "tough fight."

While the visiting fighter may have the talent to cause problems in Warren's eyes, there's little to suggest he can cause an upset.

Salido broke Cruz down three years ago with a variety of body shots. Flanagan, who laboured to a points triumph over veteran Fana last time out, can do exactly the same.

Expect the champion to march through his foe as the rounds progress and eventually force a first stoppage win since flattening Diego Magdaleno 13 months ago.