LAS VEGAS – Raymond Muratalla was more than ready for this step up.
The undefeated lightweight legitimized himself as a contender in the 135-pound division by beating Jeremia Nakathila by technical knockout in the second round on the Devin Haney-Vasiliy Lomachenko undercard at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Muratalla (18-0, 15 KOs) rocked Nakathila with a right hand when there were just over 20 seconds to go in the second round. Nakathila moved backward, but Muratalla swarmed him, unloaded a barrage of power punches and referee Robert Hoyle stepped between them because he thought Nakathila was too hurt to continue.
Hoyle officially stopped the action at 2:48 of the second round in their scheduled 10-rounder.
Namibia’s Nakathila (23-3, 19 KOs) lost by knockout for the first time in 26 professional fights.
Nakathila, 33, fought for the first time in nearly 14 months. He demolished former WBC 130-pound champion Miguel Berchelt in his previous fight, which he won by technical knockout when Berchelt didn’t answer the bell for the seventh round in March 2022 at Resorts World Las Vegas.
Muratalla, 26, fought for the second time in seven weeks because he wanted this high-profile opportunity. He got up from a first-round knockdown to drop Humberto Galindo in the fourth and ninth rounds and won by ninth-round knockout March 25 at Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.