Andy Cruz’s promoters at Matchroom won a purse bid today for him to challenge IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla no later than December 5, 2025. However, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom is targeting January 2026 for the unbeaten 2020 Olympic gold medalist Cruz (6-0, 3 KOs) to challenge Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs).
Matchroom won today’s purse bid with a $888,88 bid to Top Rank’s $550,000. Earlier this month, on October 2, 2025, the IBF had ordered Muratalla, 28, to defend against mandatory Cruz.
Muratalla’s Missed Riyadh Payday
Interestingly, Muratalla had reportedly failed to agree to a deal for him to defend against Andy Cruz on the November 22nd event headlined by David Benavidez vs. Anthony Yarde in Riyadh.
As Hearn pointed out, that was a missed opportunity on Muratalla’s part, as the financial deal he likely would have received would have been greater than the one he would have received to defend against Cruz on another date.
💎 🔜 👑
Purse bid won ✅
Andy Cruz will challenge for Raymond Muratalla’s IBF World 135lbs Title in early 2026! @DAZNBoxing pic.twitter.com/vZXH7ZGn0r
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) October 23, 2025
That would have been the perfect chance for Muratalla to get a big payday in his first and possibly his last defense of his IBF title. If he loses his IBF strap to Cruz, as many boxing fans predict, he’ll be kicking himself for not agreeing to fight him on Turki Alalshikh’s November 22nd card.
Muratalla was elevated from IBF interim 135-lb champion to full IBF lightweight champion on June 9, 2025, following Vasily Lomachenko’s retirement on June 5, 2025. The Top Rank-promoted Muratalla had captured the IBF interim belt on May 10, 2025, beating Zaur Abdullaev by a 12-round unanimous decision.
The Cuba-born Andy Cruz became the IBF 135-lb mandatory on June 14, 2025, knocking out Hironori Mishiro in the fifth round in an IBF title eliminator.
Tom Galm’s Final Take
Raymond Muratalla missed his window and shot himself in the foot with two blunders. He not only blew his chance to fight on Turki Alalshikh’s November 22nd card for a nice payday, but then was too slow to make a voluntary defense to milk his IBF belt.
Today’s purse bid was the icing on the cake of the bad luck that Muratalla has had since being elevated to IBF champion status. The title has been the equivalent of the Monkey’s paw to Muratalla, bringing a curse since he got it.
Muratalla initially had the chance to take a voluntary defense of his IBF title after he was elevated on June 9, 2025. His promoters briefly attempted to put together a deal with Floyd Schofield. However, the IBF moved quickly, ordering Muratalla to begin negotiations with mandatory Cruz, which meant Raymond’s window to make a voluntary defense had closed.
So, technically, Muratalla had an opportunity to make a voluntary defense, but due to his delay, he missed that window. Now, he’s stuck with Cruz in a fight that he very well could lose, putting a quick end to his IBF title reign. So, many missed opportunities for Muratalla.
Last Updated on 10/23/2025
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