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Young Stars Raymond Muratalla, Andres Cortes
& Abdullah Mason Highlight Oscar Valdez vs. Shakur Stevenson
Undercard On April 30
Lightweight Raymond “Danger” Muratalla, a Southern
California dynamo with eight consecutive knockouts, is
aiming for another show-stopping performance in Las Vegas.
Muratalla will fight New Orleans native Jeremy Hill in an
eight-rounder Saturday, April 30, on the undercard of the
Oscar Valdez-Shakur Stevenson WBC/WBO junior lightweight
title unification tilt at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Valdez-Stevenson, an eight-round lightweight co-feature
between U.S. Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis and
Esteban Sanchez, and Nico Ali Walsh-Alejandro Ibarra will be
broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 10 p.m.
ET/7 p.m. PT. Muratalla-Hill and additional undercard action
will stream live and exclusively on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m.
ET/3:30 p.m. PT.
Muratalla (13-0, 11 KOs) grew up fighting in his father’s
backyard boxing ring in Fontana, a well-known cultivator of
talent that saw everyone from Ryan Garcia to 2016 U.S.
Olympian Karlos Balderas step through the ropes. After a
fruitful amateur career, Muratalla turned pro in Mexico in
2016 and worked his way up the SoCal circuit before signing
a long-term deal with Top Rank. In 2020, he won two fights
inside the MGM Grand Las Vegas Bubble and emerged as a
contender to watch in 2021. Last November, he made the most
of his opportunity on the televised Terence Crawford-Shawn
Porter PPV undercard, stopping Elias Araujo in five rounds.
Hill (16-2, 11 KOs) won his first 14 fights before a 1-2
skid that saw him drop competitive decisions to Steven Ortiz
and Nahir Albright. He kicked off his 2022 campaign with a
second-round knockout over Jonathan Perez in New Orleans.
In other undercard bouts:
Junior lightweight contender Andres “Savage” Cortes (16-0, 9
KOs), a Las Vegas native who recently inked a long-term
contract with Top Rank, looks to make a hometown statement
versus Alexis del Bosque (18-5-1, 9 KOs) in an
eight-rounder. del Bosque is 5-0-1 in his last six fights,
while Cortes is coming off brutal knockout wins over Mark
Bernaldez and former world title challenger Genesis Servania.
Cleveland-born lightweight sensation Abdullah Mason (1-0, 1
KO), who turned 18 years old earlier this month, goes for
2-0 in a four-rounder against Luciano Ramos (1-2). Mason
made his pro debut last November as a 17-year-old, knocking
out Jaylan Phillips in two rounds.
Recent U.S. Olympian Troy Isley (4-0, 2 KOs), from
Alexandria, Virginia, will fight in a six-round middleweight
bout against an opponent to be named. Isley has won two
bouts since advancing to the Round of 16 at the Tokyo
Olympics.
Rising lightweight Charlie Sheehy (2-0, 2 KOs), the Bay Area
product with a pair of devastating knockouts to begin his
pro career, goes for his third straight against New Orleans
native Burnell Jenkins (2-1, 1 KO) in a four-rounder.
Jenkins has won two fights since losing his pro debut in
2019.
Junior welterweight prospect Antoine Cobb (1-0, 1 KO),
Stevenson’s close friend and training partner, returns
against the upset-minded Jaylan Phillips (1-2, 1 KO) in a
four-rounder. Cobb made his pro debut last October with a
sensational first-round stoppage on the Stevenson-Jamel
Herring undercard.
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