Ring dreams: H-D grad Kevin Cruz prepares for boxing match on national television

Just days before the biggest fight of his boxing career, Hampton-Dumont graduate Kevin Cruz reflected how a tendency to get into trouble led him to his first encounter with the sport.

“I was just getting into fights outside of school and my dad kept getting phone calls from school,” he said. “My dad said, ‘You want to fight, you’re going to a boxing gym.’”

Now more than a decade after putting on his gloves for the first time, Cruz is preparing for a nationally televised fight that will prove to himself how skilled in the ring he has become. On Oct. 20, he’ll take on unbeaten Joseph Adorno, a 19-year-old who is 9-0 professionally with 9 knockouts. The bout will air live ESPN from at the Park Theatre at Park MGM – a legendary venue for fighters and boxing fans alike.

“This fight means the world to me,” he said. “This determines my skill level. I have to go in there and make a statement.”

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