LAS VEGAS – Raymond Muratalla is making a name for himself at 135 pounds.

The unbeaten prospect, who resides in Fontana, California, battered Jeremy Hill, before knocking him out in the third round, improving to 14-0 (12 knockouts).

Muratalla has now stopped his last nine opponents. He has benefitted from sparring contenders and world titleholders at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in nearby Riverside. 

From the opening bell, Muratalla was the aggressor, ripping combinations that landed on Hill’s face. Muratalla would score a knockdown during the opening round, landing a straight right hand to the head. Hill did not completely go down as his glove barely touched the canvas after attempting to stay on his feet. He continued to fight on as the action resumed. 

Hill was game, but anytime he would initiate an exchange, Muratalla countered with one or two punches to the head, which caused his face to bruise and produced blood from his nose. 

Muratalla continued his assault on Hill, breaking him down every moment of the fight. A combination to the head dropped Hill to the canvas. Referee Tony Weeks began administering a standing eight-count, but decided to wave the fight off at 2:27 of the third round. 

Hill, from New Orleans, Louisiana, drops to 16-3 (11 KOs). He has now lost three of his last five bouts.

Junior lightweight Andres Cortes remained unbeaten, dropping Alexis Del Bosque twice en route to a knockout win in round 6. 

Cortes (17-0, 10 KOs) had the partisan crowd in his favor and seemed to feed off the energy as he landed an array of punches on Del Bosque. Undaunted, Del Bosque remained in the pocket with Cortes, even stunning Cortes in round 3 with a counter to the head. 

During round 4, Cortes backed Del Bosque against the ropes, landing a left hook to the body that dropped Del Bosque to one knee. Del Bosque was still game, remaining in the pocket, but Cortes’ punches were taking their toll. Early in round 6, Cortes landed a three-punch combination to the head, dropping Del Bosque to the canvas. Del Bosque attempted to beat the count, but referee Celestino Ruiz waved the fight off at 43 seconds after Del Bosque’s corner threw in the towel. 

Del Bosque, who resides in Dallas, Texas, drops to 18-6-1, 9 KOs. 

Middleweight Troy Isley dropped Anthony Hannah (3-3, 2 KOs) of Augusta, Georgia twice en route to a knockout win in the second round.

Isley (5-0, 3 KOs), who resides in Alexandria, Virginia, dropped Hannah with a barrage of punches midway through the second round. Hannah beat the count, but was dropped again by a right hand to the stomach. Hannah’s corner threw in the towel, prompting referee Robert Hoyle to stop the fight at 2:32. 

Lightweight prospect Abdullah Mason of Cleveland improved to 2-0 (2 KOs) by stopping Argentina’s Luciano Ramos (1-3) at 2:32 of the opening round. 

Both Isley and Mason are co-promoted by Top Rank and Antonio Leonard. 

In the opening bout of the Top Rank card, Antoine Cobb (1-0-1, 1 KO) of Chicago and Atlanta’s Jaylan Phillips fought to a majority decision draw. One judge scored the bout 39-37 for Phillips (1-2-1, 1 KO) while the other two judges scored the bout 38-38. 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing