Raymond Muratalla vs Zaur Abdullaev Preview May 10th, 2025
Unbeaten lightweight prospect Raymond Muratalla of West Covina, California takes on Zaur Abdullaev of Russia for the vacant IBF Interim Lightweight Title this Saturday, May 10th. The 12-round contest from San Diego, California can be seen live in America on the full ESPN platform while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on Sky Sports Action. Those in Canada can see it on TSN+. Muratalla was last in the ring in November when he stopped Jesus Campos in the second round. In his previous fight four months earlier he beat former world champion Tevin Farmer by a 10-round unanimous decision to win the vacant WBO NABO Lightweight Title and also defend his NABF Belt. Abullaev’s last fight resulted in a 12th-round TKO over Juan Javier Carrasco in October.
Muratalla vs Abdullaev Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Zaur Abdullaev +375
- Raymond Muratalla -500
My Pick
The 28-year-old Muratalla climbs into the ring with a perfect mark of 22-0 with 17 Ko’s and has 101 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2016. Before that, he enjoyed a brief amateur career and beat a young Ryan Garcia in a district Silver Gloves Tournament. Muratalla has plenty of power in his punches with a current knockout ratio of 77.3 per cent but was dropped in the first round by Humberto Galindo in March, 2023 and has been on the canvas before that. He’s won five of his last seven fights by stoppage and 14 of his past 17.
Muratalla stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 72-inch reach and is trained by Robert Garcia. He’s a fine young prospect and stepped up in class against Jeremia Nakathila in May, 2023 and then took a step back against Diego Torres. He also has wins over Xolisani Ndongeni, Miguel Contreras, Jair Valtierra, Jeremy Hill, Elias Damian Araujo, Jose Gallegos and Luis Porozo. He’s been taken the distance just five times but has fought longer than nine rounds only three times.
Abdullaev is 31 years of age and steps into the ring with a mark of 20-1 with 12 Ko’s. He’s Russian-born but resides in Armenia. He measures 5-feet-9-inches tall and unfortunately has an unlisted reach so is an inch taller than Murutalla. Abdullaev also enjoyed a fine amateur career as he won a silver medal at the Russian National Junior Championships in 2010 and the European Youth Championships in 2011 and made it to the quarterfinals of the Russian National Youth Championships in 2012.
Abdullaev has a bit less power to than Murutalla as 60 per cent of his victories have come by stoppage. He’s gone the distance in two of his last four fights and has stopped four of his past six opponents. Abdullaev turned pro back in 2017 and has 154 rounds of experience under his belt since. His biggest win came in 2022 when he stopped former world champion Jorge Linares in the 12th round.
He’s also beaten Roger Gutierrez, Roman Andreev, Dejan Zlaticanin, Humberto Martinez, Jovanni Straffon, Ricardo Nunez, Roberto Gonzales, Ardie Boyose, Deiner Berrio and Hank Lundy and won the WBO Youth Lightweight Title in 2018. His toughest test and only pro loss came against Devin Haney for the WBC Interim World Lightweight title in September, 2019 as he was stopped after four rounds. That bout took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City in what was his first of just two fights outside of Russia so far.
Prediction…
Muratalla is well known for his power but Abdullaev will be a stiff test as he’s quite durable with enough power of his own and he’s improved quite a bit since his loss to Devin Haney. He does have the power and skill to pull off an upset here, but still, I’d be a bit surprised if he manages to do it. I’m expecting Muratalla to emerge with a victory in a very tough contest which could very well end up going the distance.
Muratalla’s power could be the difference.
Play Muratalla -500 @ BetOnline.ag
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Raymond Muratalla betting • Zaur Abdullaev betting