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Raymond Muratalla in boxing pose, charcoal portrait
SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT

Muratalla Vacates The IBF Lightweight Title And Heads For 140 — Dalton Smith And Shakur Stevenson Should Take Notice

Raymond Muratalla has given up the IBF lightweight title after two defences and is moving up to super lightweight to target the champions. With the IBF belt at 140 vacant, Dalton Smith holding the WBC and Shakur Stevenson the WBO, Luke on where the unbeaten Californian fits — and the empty belt he has left behind at 135.

By • September 5, 2026 By
  • Unbeaten Raymond Muratalla (25-0, 17 KOs) has vacated his IBF lightweight title, according to reports citing Sports Illustrated, and will target the champions at super lightweight
  • Muratalla won the interim belt in May 2025, was elevated to full champion, then defended twice — a majority decision over Andy Cruz in January and a unanimous decision in August
  • Luke's verdict: the vacant IBF strap at 140 is the obvious route, but the fight I want is Dalton Smith — and Muratalla at 29 needs to move now, not in two years

Belt Down, Weight Up

Right then. Raymond Muratalla has handed back the IBF lightweight title. The report came via Chris Mannix citing Sports Illustrated, and it is as clean as these things get: the West Covina man has "officially vacated" the belt at 135 and "will target titleholders at 140". No injury, no politics, no mandatory he did not fancy — just a 29-year-old unbeaten fighter who has decided the bigger money and the bigger names live seven pounds north. Make no mistake, that is the right call.

Muratalla's run with that belt was a proper one, even if it never got the attention it deserved. He won the interim strap by decision in May 2025, was bumped up to full champion when the previous holder retired, and then made two defences in 2026: a hard-fought majority decision over Andy Cruz in January and a unanimous decision in August. He leaves at 25-0 with 17 knockouts and without a single blemish. That is a champion walking away on his own terms.

Who Is At 140?

Let's not beat around the bush — super lightweight is the best division in the sport right now, and Muratalla knows it. Shakur Stevenson holds the WBO. Dalton Smith, Sheffield's finest, holds the WBC. The WBA is with an American puncher, and the IBF belt — the one Muratalla knows how to win — is vacant after the previous champion gave it up to move on. Isaac "Pitbull" Cruz is sitting there as the interim WBC champion as well, which means Smith has a mandatory situation of his own brewing.

The Obvious Route

The IBF will order a fight for that vacant title, and Muratalla — with an IBF pedigree and a promoter in Golden Boy who knows how to work a sanctioning body — will be near the front of that queue. It is the sensible route. It is also the boring one. He would be picking up a belt against a fellow contender, and the whole point of moving up is to fight the names.

The Fight I Want

Dalton Smith. Muratalla is a pressure fighter with an educated jab and a body attack that breaks people down over twelve rounds; Smith is a sharp, upright, counter-punching Brit who has looked levels above domestic opposition and now needs a genuine test. Put those two in Sheffield or Las Vegas and you have a fight that tells you everything about both of them. Stevenson would be a step too far, too soon — Shakur makes good fighters look ordinary, and Muratalla needs a win at the weight before he goes anywhere near that.

Luke's Verdict

Muratalla vacating is good news for everybody except the IBF's lightweight rankings, which now have a hole in them. At 140, he is a live, unbeaten name in a division stacked with them, and I think he beats most of the contenders and gives Smith a proper argument. My prediction: he fights for the vacant IBF belt before the end of the year and wins it, and then we get Smith vs Muratalla in 2027. If you know, you know. Keep it on our news page for the sanctioning body fallout.

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