By Jake Donovan

Miguel Cruz has many boxing idols, the majority of which always left it all in the ring. Among his all-time favorites was the late Arturo Gatti, a former two-division tilists best known for absorbing an inhuman amount of in-ring punishment in order to have his say on any given night.

The unbeaten welterweight prospect was able (forced?) to experience that level of pain versus friend-turned-ring-rival Samuel Figueroa, overcoming facial cuts and swelling to claim a hard-fought split decision win Sunday evening in Lakeland, Florida. 

"It felt beautiful to have to go through that," Cruz (13-0, 11KOs) insisted to krikya360.com shortly after the fight, which aired live on Bounce TV as part of the network's Premier Boxing Champions (PBC): The Next Round series. "For a little while. I felt like Arturo Gatti in there, fighting through a cut, digging deep to get the win. My corner did a great job of keeping it from getting worse, but to fight through that and get the win, it told me a lot about myself." 

Drama developed by the end of the first round, when Cruz' corner was forced to go to work on a cut and swelling over his left eye. The 25-year old from Aguada, Puerto Rico fought through the pain and compromised vision to rally strong in the second half of their eight-round affair and claim a win on two of the three scorecards.

The bout had an added element of drama, as the two were friends and occasional sparring partners prior to being informed they would have to face each other in the ring, Friendship was put aside during fight week and throughout the bout, with Cruz also avenging a loss from their days in the amateur ranks.

Few prospect will accept such a dangerous assignment at this stage of their career. Cruz and Figueroa did so both as undefeated boxers and with a great deal of familiarity with one another, knowing very well the bout could reach a point where they'd have to move past a world of pain in order to prevail.

"He made me bring something out of me that I didn't even know I had," Cruz admitted after the fight. "I appreciate him for that."  

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of krikya360.com, as well as the boxing researcher for Bounce TV. Follow his shiny new Twitter account: @JakeNDaBox_v2