Two-time Olympic gold medalist Julio Cesar La Cruz seeks to get his professional career on track after much time spent in the amateur circuit.
Julio Cesar La Cruz claimed the gold medal in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic games in the heavyweight division.
He had a pro record of 2-0 ahead of his appearance at the Paris 2024 games, which he returned home from without a medal. He secured another pro win in December of 2024, but fought in the biggest test of his career recently in a monumental event.
La Cruz fought in the first professional boxing event hosted in Cuba for over 60 years. Professional boxing was banned in Cuba until recently, forcing Cuban boxers to move countries if they planned to go pro.
Julio Cesar La Cruz was dropped in dramatic second round against cruiserweight title challenger
In his hometown, for the fourth fight of his career, La Cruz faced 18-5 Montenegrin Dilan Prasovic.
Prasovic has shared the ring with names like Isaac Chamberlain, who stopped him in the very first round, as well as Lawrence Okolie, who Prasovic faced in a bid to win Okolie’s WBO cruiserweight title.
Okolie stopped Prasovic in the third round.
The fight with La Cruz was a dramatic one, as the 3-0 professional with heaps of amateur pedigree was dropped in the second round by Prasovic, who was also dropped by La Cruz in the same round.
La Cruz bounced back from the knockdown to drop Prasovic three times in the third round before securing a stoppage win.
The fight was a final eliminator for the bridgerweight title, held by 6-0 Muslim Gadzhimagomedov.
Despite this, fans are skeptical La Cruz will have as successful a pro career as he did as an amateur.
“Cruz may be completely washed”… Fans are left unimpressed by the sensational amateur’s lacklustre performance
On social media fans reacted to La Cruz’s recent outing, and were unimpressed with his knockdown to Prasovic, who many argue is a gatekeeper in the division, and not someone who should find success against a fighter of La Cruz’s caliber.
One fan wrote: “I think cruz may be completely washed…should have turned pro much earlier”
This view was seconded by another: “This doesn’t bode well for La Cruz. Prasovic is usually cannon fodder for anyone approaching world level.”
La Cruz is now 35 and holds a record in the amateurs of 275-25. He holds a win over bridgerweight champion Gadzhimagomedov in the amateurs, though one fan thinks a rematch in the pros would not go the same way:
“Im thinking that fight isn’t going down the way it did in the ammys.”
La Cruz is just one of many Olympians turning over at the moment. Omari Jones scored a controversial stoppage in his debut, and Marco Verde will debut on Canelo’s undercard. Teremoana scored a 57-second KO since turning pro, and Pat Brown sparred Dave Allen ahead of his debut too.
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