By: Sean Crose
IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla took on Andy Cruz in the main event of a Matchroom card that was broadcast live on DAZN Saturday night from Las Vegas. A former gold medalist from Cuba, Cruz brought a 6-0 undefeated record into the ring and was the center of attention in the lead-up to the fight even though he wasn’t the titlist. Muratalla however was hoping to show the world that hype isn’t the only thing that’s needed to become a world titlist. The fight was scheduled for 12-3 minute championship rounds. It was worth noting that, although Cruz had an undefeated record, the 33-0 Muratalla did too
The first several rounds were fast-paced and fun to watch. Each man got some good shots in and neither opponent seemed to have an edge over the other. While it seemed that Cruz may well have been the faster man, Muratalla was certainly connecting with his punches. By the middle of the fight it was hard to tell who was edging who. The champion was doing a very nice job pressuring the fast and slick challenger. Yet Cruz had incredible speed and very good accuracy with his shots. It was no doubt an entertaining fight up until that point.
As the match worked its way into the championship rounds, it was surprisingly still quite close. Indeed, neither man had taken control of the fight even though both were engaging quite well. The truth was that this was a very hard match to call. Both fighters were battling effectively, Muratalla by applying pressure and Cruz through speed and accuracy in his punches. Needless to say, the championship rounds didn’t disappoint. What was surprising was the fact that neither man seemed to be slowing down even as the fight was pushing towards the half hour point and beyond.
When all was said and done it was Muratalla who was given the decision victory by the judges. Not that Cruz said anything to be ashamed of. He had fought very well and only had a few fights on his resume walking in. There’s no doubt that, if looked at properly, Cruz could learn from his loss and move on to other things, perhaps even bigger things. Still a young man, he has his career ahead of him. As for Muratalla the man credited his pressure to leading him to victory. “He was trying to counter me,” he said of Cruz, “but I wasn’t allowing that.”
