Raymond Muratalla continued his rise, and took a hard-fought decision win against former world champion, Tevin Farmer over ten rounds at lightweight at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
Janibek Alimkhanuly was due to main event, defending his unified middleweight gold against Andrei Mikhailovich, but dehydration at the weigh-in forced the champion out of the contest, and Muratalla vs Farmer took its place as the headliner.
Muratalla (21-0, 16 KOs) came into this one on a run of four early wins in his last five fights, while Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs), had reigned as IBF super featherweight champion, and rebounded with three wins since losing that belt.
Muratalla focused his attacks to the body early on, but Farmer warmed to his task, staying out of range while keeping busy to take rounds.
The Philadelphia man was impressive in the first half of the fight, using all of his experience, but ‘Danger’ stayed calm, and the second half belonged to him.
The 27-year-old used his size and power to finally get on top of his opponent, and by round eight, Farmer was docked a point for holding and that gave the Californian the inspiration he needed to go through the gears.
With Farmer fading, Muratalla unloaded, and finished strongly as the fight went to the scorecards.
‘Danger’ was adjudged the winner by scores of 97-92, 96-93 and 95-94, and added the vacant WBO NABO belt to his NABF title.
Muratalla called for showdowns WBO champion, Denys Berinchyk and WBC titlist, Shakur Stevenson afterwards.
“I want the champions next,” he told ESPN post-fight.
“Berinchyk called my name. I’m calling out his name right now.
“If I can’t get Berinchyk, then I’ll take Shakur.”
Villa stunned by Segawa
Featherweight prospect, Ruben Villa (22-2, 7 KOs) was upset on the undercard, as he dropped a unanimous decision to Uganda’s Sulaiman Segawa.
Segawa (17-4-1, 6 KOs) was adjudged a clear winner, and took Villa’s WBC Silver title by scores of 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94.
Remaining Undercard
In eight rounders, Jonathan Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) needed less than a round to deal with Leonardo Padilla (23-6-1, 16 KOs) at super featherweight, and at super lightweight, Charlie Sheehy (10-0, 5 KOs) took a competitive points win against Ricardo Quiroz (13-5, 7 KOs).
In six round action, Javier Zamarron (9-0, 4 KOs) won 59-55 on all three cards against Michael Bracamontes (9-2-1, 5 KOs) at featherweight, and at welterweight, Art Barrera Jr (6-0, 4 KOs) dropped Javier Mayoral (6-6-1, 1 KO) twice on the way to a 60-52 success on all three scorecards.
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At super lightweight, Israel Mercado (11-1-1, 7 KOs) took a decision win over Dondrell Haynes (8-2, 7 KOs), and Albert Gonzalez (9-0, 5 KOs) halted Conrado S Martinez (9-2) in the final round of their super featherweight meeting.
