Well, there is very little question that Raymond Cuadrado was born into boxing. In fact, he had gloves on when he was just one year old.
Hailing from the Ridgewood area of Queens, Cuadrado has been around boxing since childhood because of the involvement of his father (Raymond Sr.) who is not only a trainer and owner of the Brotherhood Boxing gym, he is also the president of the local governing body of amateur boxing – USA Boxing Metro.
He actually started to box at the age of ten. And his passion for the game overrode some of his other aspirations, including baseball. He is also a certified EMT, but put pursuing that on hold because he was too dedicated to his training.
He traveled around a lot for various boxing competitions, and didn’t do too badly when staying close to home, making it to the finals of the New York Golden Gloves at Madison Square Garden in 2019.
Everyone was talking about his “Boxing IQ,” and it should be no surprise about that, considering that the game is more or less embedded in him. His cerebral and technically-sound approach to the sport has earned him the nickname “The Scientist.“
After 80 amateur bouts, he decided to play his trade at the professional level. His debut took place in April 2021, as he stopped Alexis Chavarria inside of one round. Decisions over Michael Land, Saquon Felton, Andrew Bentley and Joseph Cruz Brown followed.
But his last two fights have ended inside the distance. On April 1 he stopped Usiel Hernandez in three rounds, and then, on May 20, he knocked out Akeem Jackson in one round.
On the June 29 card he faces Yeuri Andujar, who sports just a 5-5-1 but has been in there with a lot of experienced fighters. Just a couple of years ago, at about the same time as Cuadrado was turning pro, Andujar boxed to a draw with Pablo Cruz, who had a 22-4 record.
Chances are, he’s not studying a lot of footage on Andujar. He prefers to take care of his own business, getting his game prepared in the gym, and then he’ll figure out a way to adapt to whatever his opponent does.
That’s not to say his father won’t know the opponent very well, and one thing he knows is that he isn’t going to let his son get off course.
Raymond Jr. is a very solid stand-up boxer who has demonstrated that he has a firm grasp on the lost art of body punching. That’s one route to victory, but he’s got a few more.
And you can bet there will be a crowd. Because of Cuadrado’s deep ties to boxing, which go all the way back to the amateurs, he is well-liked, well-respected and well-followed. So he’s going to have a loud and enthusiastic fan base on hand at Sony Hall.
Tickets for the June 29 show are priced at $95, $125, $200 and $325 and are available through TicketWeb. For information about tables, contact [email protected]. Doors open at 6:30 PM, with first bell slated for 7:30 PM.
Established in 1997 as a premier boxing news and information destination, Boxing Insider has, over the course of the last ten months, transitioned into the promotional business. This will be Boxing Insider’s fifth professional boxing promotion.
Sony Hall is located at 235 W 46th St. in Manhattan, at the bottom of the Paramount Hotel, directly across from the Imperial Theater.
This event will stream free of charge on BoxingInsider.com.
