Seeing Cruz lose was personal from a professional’s perspective.
What Davis was really reacting to
Davis raised his hands after the results were announced, treating the result as a proxy victory. It said more about the story than about the fight itself. Cruz was always a wall Davis couldn’t climb. Saturday shattered this image.
Cruz was untouchable to him. Four fights. Four losses. No corrections. Watching Cruz look casual in the professional ring led to him being offered a waiver. Davis couldn’t make any money on it.
This reaction did not decide anything. It revealed it.
Why the result doesn’t change anything for Davis
Muratalla’s victory does not answer the questions that arose after Davis left Tokyo. This does not prove that Davis is the better professional. He is not rewriting amateur history. If anything, Muratalla is ahead of Davis in the current order.
The fight itself was close. This was reflected in two cards, 114–114 and 116–112. One card, 118–110, no. Cruz landed cleaner punches. Muratalla continued to move forward. The judges leaned towards aggression, even when it was ineffective.
Cruz could have easily made the decision. This context matters.
Watching Muratalla raise his hand gave Davis a moment he never deserved against Cruz. This did not close the gap. It emphasized it.
Where Davis will go next
Davis returns on January 31 at Madison Square Garden, where he moves up to welterweight to face Jamaine Ortiz at Ring 6, broadcast on DAZN. This is a reset of the fight in the up-to-date division.
Davis mentioned fighting Cruz before Saturday. This door is now closed. Cruz lost. The title track is gone. Each match would require Cruz to move up to 140 pounds and defeat a top contender
This path looks narrow. Cruz is tiny and lightweight. In the welterweight division, size quickly becomes an issue.
Which Cruz continues to show
Despite the defeat, Cruz remains unsafe. The jab landed. The control was there. Against the division’s elite, his style still holds up.
Judging by Saturday, Cruz remains a problem for Shakur Stevenson, Abdullah Mason and Floyd Schofield. The skill is real. The margin was gaunt.
Davis celebrated the result. Sports haven’t changed.
Dan Ambrose was the main voice in Boxing News 24 known for years for its sensible approach to sport. You can love him or hate him. Dan has developed a sturdy fan base for his straightforward analysis, direct opinions and in-depth coverage of the global boxing scene.
His articles often spark discussions among fans because he is not afraid to challenge popular narratives or question players’ performances. In addition to opinions, Dan provides fight news, previews, and post-fight analysis that provide readers with both detail and perspective.
Canelo Alvarez talked about how long he could stay in the sport before hanging up his gloves and opting for a decorated career.
The 35-year-old is already destined for a place in the Hall of Fame, as he became a four-division world champion, but he still wants to compete at the highest level.
Since his professional debut in 2005, the Mexican has made 68 appearances and has twice become the undisputed king of the 168-pound division, scoring notable victories over the likes of Callum Smith and Caleb Plant.
More controversial was their first meeting a year earlier, when many felt Golovkin had done enough to claim a convincing victory and the Kazakhstan ended in a draw.
Still, Canelo received plenty of credit for his follow-up triumph before dethroning Sergei Kovalev to capture the WBO featherlight heavyweight title over a year later.
Alvarez’s second undisputed super middleweight reign came to an end last September when Terence Crawford moved up two weight classes and won a unanimous decision.
But Canelo explained anyway Froch About the fight that he can still compete for another two years, maybe even longer, depending on how often his opportunities come along.
“I don’t know. I think maybe two years. I don’t need it, [but] I still enjoy it. If I [fight] maybe once a year [I can go on] a little bit [longer].
“Once a year to rest my body, I think I can fight more [than two years]”
Although an official announcement has not yet been made, Canelo is scheduled to fight in Riyad, Saudi Arabia this September, and Turki Alalshikh has promised to fight for the world title.
Boxing’s worst kept secret has now been confirmed – Naoya Inoue (32-0, 27 KO) and Junto Nakatani (32-0, 24 KO) will meet on May 2 at the Tokyo Dome for Inoue’s undisputed junior featherweight championship.
The all-Japan clash was formally announced at a press conference in Japan. The fight will be broadcast live on Lemino pay-per-view; US distribution rights have not yet been announced.
Inoue – ESPN’s No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer – is coming off an impressive 2025 in which he competed four times, defeating Kim Ye-Joon, Ramon Cardenas, Murodjon Akhmadaliev and David Picasso. Thanks to Inoue’s unanimous decision victory over Picasso in December, Nakatani defeated Sebastian Hernandez in the second fight of the night in a tougher-than-expected fight. Their victories set up a long-awaited clash between two of Japan’s best players.
Nakatani is ranked No. 6 pound-for-pound by ESPN and will look to become a four-division champion after winning world titles at bantamweight, junior bantamweight and flyweight. Although Nakatani narrowly won his junior featherweight debut in a grueling fight against Hernandez, Nakatani proved he was one of the best fighters in the world and had a powerful showing in 2025, winning 3-0.
The Undercard will feature Inoue’s younger brother Takuma defending his WBC bantamweight title against former four-division titleholder Kazuto Ioka.
Jai Opetai’s fight against Brandon Glanton is still moving forward, but veteran reporter Dan Rafael says the issue that caused the IBF title to be removed from the fight had to do with how the belt was presented during fight week. Rafael reported that IBF president Daryl Peoples believes that the organization’s title was shown as secondary to Zuffa’s belt during a recent press conference.
This explanation makes the argument about the presentation rather than the match itself. Rafael wrote that Peoples objected to the way the belts were arranged at the press, with Zuffa’s belt posed for the cameras while Opetaia held the IBF title rather than raising it in the usual manner towards the audience.
“The IBF withdrew sanctions and sent the overseer home after the journalist because IBF President Daryl Peoples felt disrespected by the belt being placed secondary to Zuffa’s,” Rafael wrote on social media.
Fight week photos reflect the arrangement Rafael described. At the final press conference on Friday, Zuffa’s belt was centered and Opetaia held the red IBF title at his side. Saturday’s weigh-in had a similar effect. Zuffa’s belt was raised over the fighters on the restart, while Opetaia continued to hold the IBF Championship on his chest. This sequence appears to have irritated the sanctioning authority.
Rafael also reported another unusual detail related to the fight. Even after the IBF dropped its sanctions, Opetai and Glanton were still expected to adhere to IBF weight rules ahead of the morning fight. Rafael said that no competitor can weigh more than ten pounds over the cruiserweight weight limit of 200.
Rafael later noticed that the IBF belt continued to appear in promotion for the event. Opetaia held the title at media events and discussed it publicly, and graphics broadcast by Zuffa covered the championship. Rafael’s account points to the dispute that raged over Zuffa’s title belt relationship during press events.
Opetaia entered fight week as the IBF cruiserweight champion after regaining the belt in a rematch victory over Mairis Briedis in 2024. The Australian continues to wear the physical belt while promoting his fight against Glanton. Once he steps into the ring and takes part in an unsanctioned fight, the IBF Championship will no longer move forward with him.
The fight remains scheduled, and reports from Rafael indicate that the split was due to belt politics and presentations at public events. The episode shows how rigorously sanctioning bodies guard the status of their championships as modern promoters introduce competitive titles.
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