Andy Cruz and Albert Bell will meet in an ordered IBF lightweight eliminator on July 18 in California.
The fight will be part of Matchroom’s card at Dignity Health Sports Park, streamed live on DAZN. Diego Pacheco will headline against Immanuwel Aleem in a super middleweight clash.
The IBF ordered Cruz vs Bell in February, less than a month after Cruz lost to Raymond Muratalla in an IBF title fight. There’s no particularly good reason for Cruz (6-1, 3 KO) to get an eliminator order that quickly, but it’s typical sanctioning body stuff, and the 30-year-old Cuban, a dominant amateur, has a powerful promoter and good connections. So there you are.
Bell (28-0, 9 KO) has been off the radar since parting ways with Top Rank, having last fought under their banner in August 2021. But the 33-year-old has stayed busy, fighting regularly and largely in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, with a couple of appearances in Georgia.
Bell has, quite honestly, a style that just does not make it likely he’ll help sell any tickets anywhere but his hometown, and with no offense meant to the good people of Toledo, it’s not exactly a major market.
But Bell knows what he’s doing in the ring, and his awkward style and ability to frustrate and nick rounds should not go overlooked here. One reason people don’t want to fight him is because he’s not a ticket mover, sure; another reason is that he’s problematic to fight, and when you combine those two things, it’s a classic story in boxing where someone struggles to get fights they probably have deserved to at least take a swing at.
