SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Not every prospect has the red carpet rolled out for them in the professional ranks and Anthony Cuba certainly has not. 

The Fontana, Californian hope turned pro in October 2020 and is now 9-1-2 (4 KOs), with a hard fought and competitive loss over eight rounds to Curmel Moton his lone defeat.

On that night in Las Vegas, Cuba won the crowd over, staying in there and giving the young and highly-promising Moton plenty to think about.

Moton was the fifth undefeated fighter Cuban had been paired with.

“Yeah, if you look at my record, I’ve fought nothing but undefeated fighters,” Cuba said.

“You know, I’ve been working hard with a bunch of the top contenders, the best people, world champions, and I’m just here to prove myself. I’m over here working with the best every day. I should be the best. I’ve sparred against some of the best, like ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela, Raymond Muratalla. I’ve sparred against Jamel Herring, Leo Santa Cruz. I’ve been working a lot with Jose Ramirez, Oscar Duarte. You know, a bunch of big names that I’ve been in the gym with all the time and I’m ready to show myself.”

Trained by Robert Garcia, the 22-year-old knows he has had to come up hard, but his last fight, a victory over the 12-0-1 DeMichael Harris, might well have seen him flip from B-side to A.

He is now confident that, having climbed off the floor to outpoint Harris over eight rounds, he is headed in the right direction. On Saturday, at the Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino, California, he faces Marco Antonio Juarez Rodriguez.

“I have a few guys that have some losses and all that, but most of my fights are undefeated fighters and I became victorious over them,” he added. “That’s why I don’t have really too many knockouts, because I’m fighting against top of the game. Sure, I might have a loss, I have a few draws, I have some blemishes on my record, but I’m here to entertain the people, you know? I’m here to stick around, I’m here to showcase my skills to all of the fans and all of my supporters. I feel like they’ve always thought I was a prospect. Now they’re just seeing it more into light because now I have a great platform like ProBox [TV] to showcase my skills on. I’ve showcased my skills on Amazon and Fox before, so I feel like a lot of people are starting to see who I am now.”

Cuba lost a decision to Moton, but both fighters would have learned plenty from it. Cuba said he was dehydrated going in, but he still showed plenty.

“I was training real hard that fight,” he said. Unfortunately, I did come in dehydrated, so I was at a disadvantage and I couldn’t showcase 100 per cent of my skills, but I was glad I was able to show my heart to the fans and give all my people and my supporters a great show. You know, I would love to get that rematch. I honestly don’t think he deserves the hype, to be frank, but, you know, he is a great, talented fighter and I would love that rematch with him.”

Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, is on The Ring ratings panel and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.