Not every standout amateur boxer manages to translate that brilliance into the professional ranks. Cuban Andy Cruz, who over three rounds had often looked virtually unbeatable and left audiences in awe with his class, failed to live up to expectations in his first world-title opportunity as a professional, losing on points to IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla. The main event of the Matchroom Boxing show promoted by Eddie Hearn at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Las Vegas ended in a Majority Decision in favor of the reigning champion. The judges’ scorecards read: 118–110, 116–112, and 114–114.
In our pre-fight analysis, we had predicted that the early rounds would most likely favor Andy Cruz thanks to his superior hand speed and timing, factors that—while still fresh—were expected to make the difference. We were wrong.
Muratalla’s start was tactically flawless and immediately put the American on the right path to taking control of the fight. From the opening bell, the champion applied very intelligent pressure, forcing his opponent to move frantically along the ropes and burn valuable energy, while paying close attention to Cruz’s counters, which he avoided with quick backward movements.
After a very even opening round—one in which Muratalla nevertheless kept the initiative—he stood out in the second with two sharp consecutive right hands to the face that Cruz did not appreciate. In the third round, the champion focused primarily on body work, with good results.
Andy Cruz finally came alive in the fourth round, when he seemed to suddenly remember he was a supremely talented boxer and unleashed some of the magic that had allowed him to win three world amateur titles and an Olympic gold medal.
The Cuban mixed things up with constant stance switches, feints, punches thrown from unpredictable angles, and sudden changes of direction. It was flashy, imaginative boxing that temporarily confused Muratalla and made it difficult for him to land cleanly.
Cruz’s main problem in this fight, however, was his lack of consistency. After two excellent rounds, the challenger became passive again, allowing his opponent to regain control of the action and giving him the time and space to take the initiative.
Cruz’s class resurfaced in the eighth round, which he won thanks to masterful use of the jab, but the following round perfectly illustrated the dual nature of the former Olympic champion: a dazzling first half that thrilled the eye, followed by a flat and inconclusive second half.
The challenger never truly emerged from that passivity. Muratalla landed the only meaningful punches of the tenth round and approached the final two rounds with far greater hunger and determination than his opponent, who inexplicably behaved as if he already had the victory in hand.
The impression that Cruz had completely misread the scoring situation was confirmed by his reaction after the final bell, shifting from initial celebration to despair and disbelief once the winner was announced. It is clear that the fighter from Matanzas has yet to fully internalize the dynamics of professional boxing, where judges in most cases favor effectiveness over elegance.
Of the three official scorecards, the one that best reflects what happened in the ring, in the opinion of the writer, is Steve Weisfield’s 116–112. The 118–110 score was too harsh on the challenger, while the 114–114 draw was too generous to him.
Now it remains to be seen whether the former Olympic champion will be able to learn from this defeat, make the necessary tactical adjustments, and present himself with a better game plan at his next title opportunity. My feeling is that Cruz lacks something in terms of explosiveness and toughness to become dominant in the professional ranks, but that with a different approach he can certainly do better than what we saw last night.
Raymond Muratalla, on the other hand, deserves great credit for defying the bookmakers’ odds with a solid and convincing performance. The world champion did not get carried away trying to do too much, followed the tactical plan prepared by his team with great discipline, and proved that the defensive skills shown in recent fights were not due to the inadequacy of his opponents, but can in fact be effective even at the highest level.