Lightweight Raymond Muratalla hopes his victory on Saturday night at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas is the gateway to the elusive title shot he seeks.
Muratalla (21-0, 16 KOs), 27, of Fontana, California, was tested but ultimately secured a 10-round unanimous decision over former junior lightweight titleholder Tevin Farmer.
After the fight, Muratalla, often overlooked in the conversation among the stellar lightweights, didn’t hold back. Sitting in the ring with his trainer Robert Garcia and co-trainer father Gabriel Muratalla Sr. he said simply, “I want the champions next.”
Muratalla has his sights set on Denys Berinchyk, the WBO lightweight champion from Ukraine who upset Emanuel Navarrete in May to win the vacant title.
“Berinchyk called my name,” said Muratalla. “I’m calling out his name right now.”
Muratalla also expressed interest in a shot at the WBC lightweight title held by three-division titleholder Shakur Stevenson, who recently saw his Top Rank contract expire and is publicly taking offers from all promotions.
“If I can’t get Berinchyk, then I want Shakur,” Muratalla said.
Against Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs), 33, from Philadelphia, Muratalla had to be resourceful. According to CompuBox, Muratalla landed 106 out of 481 punches, while Farmer landed 109 out of 446. The story of the fight was the back end of the bout. Muratalla came on strong in the seventh, and a point deducted by referee Thomas Taylor for Farmer’s excessive holding seemed to rattle him. Muratalla outlanded Farmer in rounds seven through 10, leading to his victory.
“I just had to keep applying the pressure. He was moving around. He was holding. So I had to keep putting on the pressure, and we came out with the victory,” Muratalla said after the fight. “I was just consistent with the pressure. I just kept putting it on. My team told me to keep putting it on. I was breaking him down round by round.”
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