Lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla has a chance to shine tonight in his elevated main event contest against former 130-lb world champion Tevin Farmer in their 10-round clash at the Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The event will be shown tonight on ESPN+ at 6:50 p.m. ET/3:50 p.m. PT.
An Unforeseen Opportunity
Muratalla (20-0, 16 KOs), who Top Rank has pegged for world title honors, saw his fight with former IBF super featherweight champion Farmer (33-5-1, 8 KOs) moved to the top spot due to unified middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly’s medical problem, which necessitated him pulling out of his headliner against Andrei Mikhailovich.
This is the perfect opportunity for the 27-year-old Muratalla to show that he’s one of the major players in the lightweight division by defeating Farmer, 33, and making it look easy.
A knockout win would be ideal for Muratalla, but it will not be easy given Farmer’s skills and experience.
“This is your opportunity to show your world-class by beating a world-class opponent, and that’s [Tevin] Farmer,” said boxing expert Tim Bradley to Fighthype, talking about tonight being the opportunity for lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla being able to show that he’s world-class by defeating former IBF super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer in their headliner on ESPN+.
“I know them. They’re not taking Farmer lightly. I know they’ve [Team Muratalla] worked extremely hard for this fight, but I’m expecting a really good fight. Farmer is one of those guys that can take the air. It’s almost like taking the air out of a ball.
Overcoming Farmer’s Evolving Style
“He’s one of those guys that can make it really tricky for you. He’s very cerebral and skillful and likes to set up his opponents,” Bradley continued about Farmer. “As of late, he’s been knocking some guys out. He found some newfound power.”
It’s unclear whether Farmer’s newfound knockout ability results from fighting lower-level opposition, which he picked out for his comeback after being out of the ring for three years.
The guys that Farmer has been knocking out lately weren’t world-class fighters, so it’s not a surprise that he scored stoppages against them. It’s going to be a lot more tricky for Farmer to attempt that feat tonight against Muratalla, who has power and skills.
“I know they’re lower-level guys, but when you’re knocking guys out, even lower-level guys sometimes, you gain a lot of confidence from that,” said Bradley about the knockouts that Farmer has been piling up in his last three fights. “So, he’s [Farmer] starting to sit down on his punches a little bit more. He’s starting to get a little bit more offense after his defense because he was a little bit more defensive guy style.”
If Farmer suddenly develops more power, that could make things interesting tonight because Muratalla hasn’t fought anyone near his level talent-wise, and he might have trouble against someone hitting him back.
A Question of Muratalla’s True Caliber
There are still a lot of question marks about whether Muratalla is the real deal or just another example of a fighter promoted by Top Rank that has been fed tomato cans to make them look better than they are.
We saw that with former Top Rank fighter Edgar Berlanga, who they made look like a monster by feeding him horrible opposition in his first 16 fights, and he responded by knocking them out in the first round. When he was stepped up against C-level opposition, he began struggling and looking average, which is where he is now.
“So now he’s made some adjustments to his style to be more entertaining and more effective inside the ring, which is good,” said Bradley about Farmer. “I’m curious to see how he fairs against a young gun [Muratalla] that has power. He’s the naturally bigger man at 135 pounds, and he’s younger [27 vs. 33] and hungry. We shall see. It’s going to be a good matchup.”
Farmer has better skills and much more experience than Muratalla, and he might be able to pull off an upset tonight if he can put his hands on the younger fighter. That would be a shock to the fans and obviously a disappointment to Top Rank, who have brought him this far with their careful match-making.
“It’s a really good main event. I think it’s the fight of the night,” said Bradley about the Muratalla vs. Farmer bout.
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