Personally, I had Cruz edging it, and for the lifetime of me, I can’t discover a path that provides Muratalla ten rounds. You possibly can’t ignore a fighter getting repeatedly snapped again by a jab, reset, and compelled to rebuild his offense from scratch time and again.
Muratalla did what he at all times does. He pressed ahead, stayed energetic, and dedicated to the physique. Cruz boxed with management, managed distance, and landed the cleaner punches whereas limiting exchanges. Neither fighter dominated prolonged stretches, which is why many of the rounds felt slim quite than decisive.
Cruz was not avoiding engagement. He was selecting it. He landed first typically, stepped out cleanly, and made Muratalla pay for coming ahead with out his toes set. Muratalla answered with strain and quantity, significantly late, however strain alone didn’t outweigh clear work in rounds the place he was constantly crushed to the punch.
That’s the place the scoring ought to have lived, in shut calls formed by choice quite than separation. Judges have been weighing accuracy in opposition to exercise, not management in opposition to survival. A draw suits that struggle. An in depth resolution in both route suits that struggle. A card implying clear management by one fighter doesn’t.
The 118 110 rating was not merely a special opinion. It was disconnected from the rhythm of the competition. In a bout determined by small exchanges and timing, that margin turned a aggressive struggle into one thing it by no means was on paper.
This doesn’t should be labeled a theft to be troubling. Muratalla profitable is defensible. The struggle itself was respectable. The difficulty was scale. One choose stretched the end result past what the motion supported and made the end result tougher to just accept than it wanted to be.
Muratalla retains his title and strikes on, although the efficiency answered few questions. Cruz takes his first skilled loss, but it surely does little injury. In solely his sixth struggle, he confirmed he can function at this stage with out safety.
The choice will stay within the books. The 118 110 will stay with it. That quantity is the issue, as a result of it describes a struggle that didn’t happen.
