Raymond Muratalla watched his older brother grind out a tough win one fight before picking up a victory of his own.
The rising lightweight prospect from Fontana, California enjoyed a successful 2020 debut, dominating Phoenix’s Cesar Alan Valenzuela en route to a 7th round stoppage Saturday evening from MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
Both fighters were dropped, but with Muratalla getting the better of the action for the balance of the fight before forcing the stoppage at 2:24 of round seven.
Muratalla struck first, scoring a knockdown in the opening round. A right hand sent Valenzuela to the canvas midway through the frame, to which he quickly recovered but found himself in an early hole.
Round two saw Muratalla draw an eerily similar experience to that of older brother Gabriel Muratalla, who was dropped by a rabbit punch in the opening round of his eventual win over Justice Bland. Raymond Muratalla landed a left hook prior to slipping return fire from Valenzuela, who managed to block a follow-up shot to catch his foe with a left hook behind the head. Muratalla stumbled backward and fell to the canvas, pointing to the back of his head only to have to take a mandatory eight count from referee Michael Ortega.
Action slowed in round three, playing to the advantage of Muratalla who was able to clear his head. Valenzuela—whose training team includes former lightweight champ Antonio DeMarco—was hesitant in letting go his right hand, a flaw that carried over into round four which saw Muratalla pick up the pace.
A combination forced Valenzuela on the defensive against the ropes, though about to maneuver out of harm’s way. Muratalla took the attack downstairs, connecting with a left hook and looping right hand to the body. Muratalla went on the attack in the final 0:30, connecting with a triple right hand before coming back with a left hook to the body and looping right hand to drive Valenzuela to the ropes.
Muratalla continued to break down Valenzuela round by round, scoring with power shots and wearing down his foe. The trend continued for far too long, with Valenzuela reaching a point of no longer being able to defend himself. Ortega sensed as much, finally waving off the contest.
Muratalla improves to 10-0 (8KOs), having now stopped his last five opponents.
Valenzuela falls to 15-7-1 (5KOs), suffering his third loss in his last four starts.
The bout served in supporting capacity to the thrice-scheduled bout between unified junior welterweight titlist Jose Ramirez (25-0, 17KOs) and former beltholder Viktor Postol (31-2, 12KOs).
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox