LAS VEGAS – Andy Cruz demonstrated Saturday night exactly why his standing among boxing’s lightweights defies his professional experience.

The skillful Cuban took Omar Salcido’s hardest punches without incident, oftentimes caught Salcido with combinations that wowed the crowd at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and definitively defeated the determined Mexican by unanimous decision in their 10-round bout. Judges Chris Migliore (99-91), Dave Morretti (98-92) and Zachary Young (98-92) all scored Cruz a comfortable winner on the Diego Pacheco-Steven Nelson undercard.

Cuba’s Cruz (5-0, 2 KOs), who won an Olympic gold medal in 2021, was listed as a 14-1 favorite by FanDuel sportsbook. His hand speed, athleticism and ring IQ enabled Cruz to dominate Salcido in a way that reflected those wide odds during DAZN’s co-feature.

Mexico’s Salcido (20-2, 14 KOs) knocked out former WBA interim super featherweight champ Chris Colbert (17-3, 6 KOs) in the ninth round of his previous fight, which took place October 16 in Plant City, Florida.

A confident Cruz crisply caught Salcido with a variety of punches during eighth, ninth and 10th rounds that were almost entirely one-sided. Salcido wasn’t hurt by any of Cruz’s punches until the final seconds of the 10th round, when he held to keep Cruz from having a legitimate shot at dropping him.

Cruz continually landed right hands during a seventh round in which his hand speed and combination punching allowed him to build on his lead.

Cruz came back from a difficult fifth round to land the flusher punches, and from various angles, in the sixth round. Salcido tried to land fight-altering shots, mostly one at a time, with little success during that sixth round.

After taking numerous power shots from Cruz in the fourth round, Salcido closed the distance at times during the fifth round and landed flush punches of his own. Cruz touched gloves with Salcido as a sign of respect after the bell sounded to end the fifth round.

An aggressive Cruz unloaded various power punches on the sturdy Salcido during the fourth round. Salcido caught Cruz with a couple counters that kept him honest during the final minute of the fourth round.

It was obvious by that point in their fight, though, that Salcido wouldn’t be able to neutralize Cruz’s superior speed and athleticism.

Cruz opened up on the slower Salcido early in the third round, but he couldn’t keep Salcido from moving forward. A left hook and then a right hand by Cruz stopped Salcido in his tracks during the second half of the third round.

Cruz kept Salcido at a safe distance by moving during much of the first round. In the second round, though, Cruz connected with right hands and left hooks as he stood in front of Salcido more often.