Boxing
Newly-crowned IBF interim lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla talks playing 'waiting game' with Vasiliy Lomachenko
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Raymond Muratalla sits in his Fontana, California home just a few days removed from being crowned the interim IBF lightweight world champion.
“It felt great to hear and new,” Muratalla admits to DAZN News over Zoom about the moment his unanimous decision victory over Zaur Abdullaev was announced Saturday night. “Just ready for big things to come.”
Pleased by the results, certainly, but not satiated.
Just as Muratalla’s win improved his record to 23-0 (17 KOs), the 28-year-old finds himself in a bit of a quandary — waiting on one of boxing’s pound-for-pound best, Vasiliy Lomachenko.
His newly-won interim title makes him the mandatory challenger to Lomachenko's IBF lightweight world championship. Loma hasn’t fought since the 11th-round TKO he produced against George Kambosos Jr. in May of last year.
If defeating Abdullaev in Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California, and before a large streaming audience, helped put his name on the map amongst boxing casuals, having the chance to best a generational great in Lomachenko is something Muratalla craves to have on his ledger.
“I think it’ll be huge for my career to have that type of name be on my resume,” Muratalla says. “Lomachenko, he’s an all-time great, man. So just to have that on my resume will be huge for my career and a great opportunity. It’d be an honor to fight someone like that.”
Lomachenko’s name has been swirled amidst retirement rumors, especially after a prospective bout between the Ukrainian and Shakur Stevenson did not pan out. Still, Muratalla holds out hope he can test his skills against the sweet scientist before the year is done.
“I think he’s … I mean, I hope so,” Muratalla says about landing the dream bout. “I mean, that’s something that I’m looking forward to and I’m hoping we can get that going.”
He adds in earnest: “It’s just a waiting game. I hope he had enough time to rest, recover or whatever … but I think it’s time to get back in the ring and hopefully we can get that one going on.”
At 37, Loma is nearly 10 years Muratalla’s senior, with a storied amateur background. After losing the unified lightweight crown via an October 2020 upset unanimous decision loss to Teofimo Lopez, Lomachenko pieced together a three-fight win streak.
However, he again experienced a setback in a controversial unanimous decision loss to Devin Haney in a May 2023 fight that many felt Loma did enough to win on the scorecards.
Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) then rebounded once again with the stoppage win over Kambosos in Australia last May.
While the interim title status is nice, marking a significant achievement in Muratalla's career, shedding it in an elevation to full status world champion against an all-time great is what Muratalla wants next to boost his fighting profile.
“Yeah, I definitely want the full status,” Muratalla says. “You know, that's the goal, but you know, I gotta earn it, too.”
