Andy Cruz beat Hironori Mishiro easily in an IBF lightweight eliminator tonight at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York. This means he will have a chance to fight for the belt that Raymond Muratalla now holds. Muratalla was recently promoted from interim to full titlist after Vasiliy Lomachenko retired. His first defense could be challenging against the Cuban amateur star, who looked meaner than ever as a pro tonight. Mishiro (17-2-1, 6 KO) was tough, but he was completely out of his depth in this fight. Cruz (6-0, 3 KO) was landing at will by the third round. In the third round, Mishiro went down twice. In the fourth round, Cruz let up a little, but in the fifth round, when referee Eric Dali had seen enough punishment in the mismatch, he finished Mishiro off. Cruz added via an interpreter, "This is just another step on my way to reaching my main goal, which is to become a world champion." "I have to give (Mishiro) a lot of credit; he was a warrior in there, and I thank him, but tonight was my night." He was a really good fighter and could take a lot of hits in there. Cruz did say that his next bout will be against IBF titleholder Raymond Murtalla. Cruz stated, "I've always said I was born for these moments. I wanted to go into these fights, and I'm completely ready for this." He also made fun of his old amateur adversary, Keyshawn Davis, saying, "Keyshawn, learn from your father," with a laugh. In the opening round, top heavyweight prospect Teremoana Jr. beat Aleem Whitfield badly, tearing through his opponent. Teremoana (8-0, 8 KO) was added to the bill at the last minute, and Whitfield (9-1, 6 KO) wasn't supposed to be much of a challenge, but Teremoana is still someone to watch as a possible new star in the heavyweight class. Whitfield also became pro as a super middleweight in 2009 and came back to the sport last November after being out of it for over ten years. In the main card opener, super featherweight prospect Zaquin Moses improved his record to 4-0 (3 KO) with a second-round stoppage of Carl Rogers (3-3, 0 KO). Rogers tried to be awkward and find openings, but he was just outclassed by the 20-year-old from Newark, whose grandfather is longtime trainer Wali Moses and whose cousin is Shakur Stevenson. "I feel great." I got some rounds in. "My grandfather wanted me to stop him earlier, but I wanted to get in some rounds," Moses recalled. "I just wanted to have fun and do what I do." I knew this kid wasn't as good as me when they gave him to me, but I just wanted to have fun. I put in a lot of effort, and it showed right here. I could tell he was done by how he moved. He didn't enjoy it when I smacked him with a body shot. I hit him in the head and harmed him. That's all she wrote.