Olympic boxing champion Andy Cruz brings experienced manager to his team

Andy Cruz is the Olympic boxing champion at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and has a 4-0 record as a professional.

He now wants to take his career to the next level from a business and fight perspective. Cruz recently added experienced deal broker and 2022 Boxing Manager of the Year Peter Kahn to his team to secure the best fight opportunities.

Kahn joins Cruz's managers and Day 1 advisers Yolfri Sanchez and Alexey Ferrer.

Kahn is the current manager of super welterweight contender Xander Zayas, flyweight title contender Yankiel Rivera, super featherweight contender Henry LeBron and former undisputed super middleweight champion and current WBC and WBA 168-pound titleholder Franchon Crews-Dezurn.

“I'm very proud to be part of Team Cruz,” Kahn said via text message. “I firmly believe Andy will be a dominant figure in the lightweight division in the near future with many big fights coming up in the not too distant future. He had already put together a solid team with Yolfri and Alexy and I'm grateful to be able to add my experience and special skills to that team. But it all starts with Andy. He is such a talented fighter, elite athlete and an extremely likeable person outside of the ring, I'm excited for the future.”

Kahn has overseen the careers of other former champions such as George Kambosos Jr., helping him secure a title shot against Teofimo Lopez and two championship fights with Devin Haney before the two parted ways in 2022 after a nearly six-year partnership.

“I think we made a great move because his experience will help the growth of the entire team and make us even more solid,” Cruz told me via text message. “Now we are more complete.”

Cruz, 29, looks like a fighter ready to step into the ring against high-level opposition. Although he has only four professional fights under his belt, most recently a seventh-round knockout of Antonio Moran on Aug. 3 as the undercard to Terence Crawford's unanimous decision victory over Israil Madrimov, his extensive amateur experience has prepared him to face elite lightweight contenders.

The Matchroom Boxing product is already ranked in the top 10 by all four governing bodies and some believe he could be ready to fight for a title in the 135-pound division within a year.

“I'm sure that adding Peter Kahn to our team will be of great benefit to Andy's career,” Ferrer said via text message. “Peter brings many positive things with him, such as brands, exposure and certainly an increase in Andy's value as a fighter. This could lead Andy to a title shot sooner than many believe – because we as a team are confident that Andy can overcome these challenges.”

There are currently a lot of potentially high-profile fights in the 135-pound class. The IBF champion is the legendary Vasyl Lomachenko, Gervonta Davis holds the WBA title, Shakur Stevenson is the WBC champion and Denys Berinchyk is the WBO titleholder.

Given Cruz's current situation, a fight against Berinchyk seems to be the most promising path to a title shot. Berinchyk's recent upset win over Emmanuel Navarrete in May and his as-yet-unscheduled first title defense could make this fight a logical next step for Cruz.

“For me, Peter brings a solid experience and great knowledge that I am convinced will enrich our projects, strengthen our collaboration and our team, so that we all work together towards the same goal,” Sanchez said via text message. “We are excited about the fresh ideas and energy he will give us. I am convinced that his collaboration will enable us to achieve these goals and great things.”

We'll see who Cruz faces next as he prepares to continue his climb up the lightweight rankings.