The unbeaten IBF lightweight champion settled for a 12-round, majority-decision victory over Cuba’s Cruz on January 24 at Fontainebleau Las Vegas. The prevailing feeling afterward, however, was that Muratalla clearly won, which is why he dismissed Cruz’s contention that the result warrants a second shot at Muratalla’s championship.

“I don’t think it deserves a rematch,” Muratalla told The Ring. “I beat him fair, beat him clean and comfortably, so I’m looking forward to bigger fights and definitely moving on from that.”

Muratalla (24-0, 17 KOs), The Ring’s No. 2 contender for a vacant lightweight title, is scheduled to make his second defense of the IBF 135-pound championship against former WBC 130-pound belt-holder Robson Conceicao (21-3-1, 10 KOs) on Saturday night at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Their 12-round co-feature will precede another lightweight title fight in the main event – Lamont Roach (25-1-3, 10 KOs) versus William Zepeda (33-1, 27 KOs) for the unclaimed WBC belt.

The 29-year-old Muratalla, of Fontana, California, hopes he gets credit from all three judges this time for the convincing victory he expects to produce. Judges Tim Cheatham (118-110) and Steve Weisfeld (116-112) scored 10 and eight rounds respectively for Muratalla against Cruz, but Max De Luca determined their competitive contest was a draw, 114-114.

“That was a weird scorecard,” Muratalla said. “I definitely didn’t see it a draw at all. I was super confident I was winning the whole fight. I was surprised to hear that and see that.”

Beating a fighter of Cruz’s caliber strengthened the emerging Muratalla’s standing in the lightweight division. The 2021 Olympic gold medalist is the most accomplished, skillful opponent Muratalla, a durable boxer-puncher, has defeated during a pro career that began nearly 10 years ago.

“I was definitely happy about the win,” Muratalla said. “I felt very confident throughout the fight, so there was no question of my performance and the win. I felt really good that fight. My body felt good, everything went my way, and I went in there to win. I’m just on to the next. I got that done and I’m ready for more.”

Cruz (7-1, 4 KOs) responded impressively to his first professional defeat by viciously knocking out Mexican veteran Abraham Montoya (24-8-1, 14 KOs) in the third round July 18 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The 30-year-old Cruz met Montoya at the lightweight limit, but he will probably return to the junior lightweight division for his next bout because he is more likely to land another championship opportunity at 130 pounds.

Muratalla is a 14-1 favorite to beat Brazil’s Conceicao, according to DraftKings. The winner is expected to face Roach or Zepeda next in what would be a title unification fight.

TNT will televise the card headlined by Roach-Zepeda in the United States (8 p.m. ET; 5 p.m. PT). DAZN’s global coverage of the event is also set to begin at 8 p.m. ET in the U.S. and 1 a.m. BST Sunday in the United Kingdom.