The other two scores were 114 114 and 116 112. The first one was more in the ballpark of the fight that took place inside the ring. Muratalla was eating too many jabs, and missing too frequently for him to win 8 to 4 or 10 to 2. Those scores were from outer space and had no logical place in the scoring for the fight.
ComputBox Punch Sats
- Raymond Muratalla landed 175 of 611 punches thrown (29% connect rate).
- Andy Cruz landed 176 of 537 punches thrown (33% connect rate).
“I thought Muratalla did just enough to edge it. I thought he won the 12th, and I thought 7 to 5 for me. It was very close fight,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social, reacting to Raymond Muratalla’s win over Andy Cruz.
It’s a bit surprising that Hearn is abandoning his fighter, Cruz, because normally promoters stick with their guys, especially with close fights. Muratalla was more aggressive in the 12th round, but it was Cruz who was landing the shots. The only thing Muratalla was doing was walking forward.
“Muratalla impressed me tonight. I thought he looked very strong, very big at the weight,” said Hearn. “There were a lot of close rounds, but maybe a little bit of consistency and pressure and a little bit more output from him. That nicked the fight,” said Hearn.
The punch output was essentially even, with Cruz landing one more punch than Muratalla. So, when Hearn says the punch “output” is what won the fight for Muratalla, he’s off.
“What he might be talking about is the power advantage that Raymond showed. His shots clearly looked stronger. Part of that had to do with how big he was compared to Cruz. The two fighters looked a division apart,” said Hearn.
The size advantage that Muratalla had over Andy played a part in him having more power. Cruz looked like a super featherweight fighting a light welterweight tonight. He didn’t look like he belonged in the same ring with Muratalla in terms of size.
“When I heard that card, I thought, ‘I know they’re not giving that one to Andy,’” said Hearn about the judge who scored it 118 110 for Muratalla. “My opinion was, Muratalla edged a very close fight. This was Andy’s sixth fight. Maybe he lacked a little bit of championship experience.
Hearn’s comment about knowing that the wide score was for Muratalla is similar to how I felt. When I heard the score read, I just knew it was for Muratalla.
“Muratalla is 23 and 0. I thought he did really well tonight. He just needs to come back against a top contender. His stock rose,” said Hearn about Cruz.
If Hearn is going to match Cruz against a contender next, he should persuade him to get a different coach so he can work on his lack of aggression. Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis was telling Cruz to throw more, but he wasn’t listening.
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