Raymond Muratalla vs Xolisani Ndongeni Preview March 29th, 2024
Unbeaten lightweight prospect Raymond Muratalla of West Covina, California faces Xolisani Ndongeni of South Africa in a 10-round contest this Friday, March 29th. The bout takes place in Glendale, Arizona and can be seen live in America on ESPN+ while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on Sky Sports Arena. Murutalla was last in the ring in November when he stopped Diego Nunez in the eighth round to defend his WBO Global and NABA Lightweight Titles. Ndongeni last saw action in January when he was halted by Arnold Barboza Jr after eight rounds.
Muratalla vs Ndongeni Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Xolisani Ndongeni +900
- Raymond Muratalla -1600
My Pick
The 27-year-old Muratalla climbs into the ring with a perfect mark of 19-0 with 16 Ko’s and has 79 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 84.2 per cent but was dropped in the first round by Humberto Galindo in March and has been on the canvas before that. He’s won his last four fights by stoppage as well as 13 of his past 14.
Muratalla stands 5-feet-8-inches tall and reportedly has a 72-inch reach and is trained by Robert Garcia. He’s a fine young prospect and stepped up in class against Jeremia Nakathila last May, then took a step back against Torres and is perhaps going sideways against Ndongeni. Muratalla has also earned wins over the likes of Miguel Contreras, Jair Valtierra, Jeremy Hill, Elias Damian Araujo, Jose Gallegos and Luis Porozo. He’s been taken the distance just three times but has never fought longer than nine rounds.
As for Ndongeni, the 33-year-old has 227 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2010 and makes the ring walk with a record of 31-4 with 18 Ko’s. He stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 69.5-inch reach which means he’s the same height as Muratalla but gives up 2.5-inches in reach to him. As far as power goes, he’s not really known as a heavy hitter as 58.1 per cent of his victories have come by stoppage. He’s got a record of 6-4 in his past nine fights and has lost two in a row, but six of his last seven wins have come by knockout. Ndongeni has been stopped twice as Prince Dlomo halted him in the sixth round in 2020.
His other defeats came at the hands of Devin Haney by a wide 10-round unanimous decision in 2019 in a shot at the vacant WBO Inter-Continental, and WBC International Lightweight Titles and the 10-round unanimous decision to Ernesto Mercado in his last fight. As a pro. Ndongeni has won the South African, and WBF International Super Featherweight Titles as well as the South African, IBO World, WBF World, and IBO International Lightweight Titles and the African Super Lightweight Belt. His biggest wins have been against Juan Garcia Mendez, Mzonke Fana, Patrick Malinga and Apinun Khongsong.
Prediction…
Muratalla is well known for his power but Ndongeni does possess enough of his own to cause some damage and Muratalla has been floored before. As long as his chin holds up, I’m expecting Muratalla to notch another win, probably by way of stoppage.
Muratalla’s power should be the difference.
Play Muratalla -1600 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Raymond Muratalla betting • Xolisani Ndongeni betting