Lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) looked like 24k gold tonight, obliterating Jesus Perez (25-6, 18 KOs) by a scorching two knockdown, second-round knockout in the co-feature fight at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.
(Credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
Muratalla, 27, was in vintage form tonight, knocking Perez down twice with straight left hands that put him down on his backside in round two.
Perez barely beat the count after the second knockdown of the round and looked shaky when the action resumed. Muratalla landed several hard punches that wobbled Perez, forcing referee Charlie Fitch to step in and stop the fight at 1:24 of the round.
In the first knockdown, Perez walked into a left-right combination from Muratalla that sent him down hard on the canvas back-first. Where Perez made a mistake in getting up and immediately going forward to throw power shots. Muratalla took advantage of this by dropping Perez a second time with the exact same left-right.
After the fight, Muratalla called out the lightweight champions, saying he was ready for any of them. He mentioned IBF lightweight champion Vasily Lomachenko, but that has no chance of happening because Loma is expected to retire.
“I’m coming for those champions. I still got it,” said Muratalla to ESPN during the post-fight interview. “I’m asking for these title shots, but they’re not given to me.”
The obvious choice for Muratalla to fight for a lightweight belt is WBO champ Denys Berinchyk. However, it’s believed that Top Rank is saving Berinchyk for Keyshawn Davis because they’re trying to turn him into a star overnight. Muratalla won’t be given Berinchyk.
Top Rank matched Muratalla with the perfect opponent to make him look good after his last performance against Tevin Farmer earlier this year on July 13th. Given how poor Perez was, it’s impossible to know whether Muratalla has improved. Perez is a part-time fighter with a construction job, and he wasn’t someone ranked in the top tier at lightweight.
Moreover, he looked drained at the weight. Perez had been fighting at welterweight and did not have the same energy as he did in his fights against Brian Norman Jr. and Alexis Roach. Those guys are bigger punchers than Muratalla, but neither could knockout Perez.
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