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The winner will move into mandatory position for IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla (24-0, 17 KOs), who currently has an optional defense before the sanctioning body orders a mandatory title fight in October.<\/p>\n Cruz already shared the ring with Muratalla earlier this year and came up short in a majority decision loss. The IBF still moved the Cuban contender back into position after Lucas Bahdi declined the eliminator opportunity.<\/p>\n The fight gives Cruz another fast track toward a world title despite having only seven professional bouts. The 2020 Olympic gold medalist is still viewed by many as one of the most skilled fighters in the division, though his loss to Muratalla slowed some of the momentum that had followed him since leaving the amateur ranks.<\/p>\n Bell, meanwhile, finally lands the kind of opportunity he has spent years chasing. The Toledo native has remained buried outside the spotlight despite staying highly ranked at lightweight. The 33-year-old kept active in 2025 with decision wins over Josec Ruiz and Keith Hunter while waiting for a meaningful fight to materialize.<\/p>\n Cruz has also mentioned the possibility of eventually moving to 140 pounds, where Ring\/WBO junior welterweight champion Shakur Stevenson has been floated as a future target.<\/p>\n At this stage, Cruz remains at lightweight with another direct path opening toward Muratalla and the IBF belt.<\/p>\n Dan Ambrose is a boxing journalist at Boxing News 24, recognized for his direct analysis and extensive coverage of the global fight landscape. His reporting focuses on major bouts, divisional developments, and the sport\u2019s most discussed storylines.<\/p>\n Click here to subscribe to our FREE newsletter<\/a>Related Boxing News:<\/p>\n \t\t\tCategories Latest<\/a> \t\t<\/p>\n Boxing News 24<\/a> \u00bb News<\/a> \u00bb Andy Cruz Lands New IBF Eliminator After $298K Bid<\/p>\n Last Updated on 2026\/05\/27 at 7:18 PM \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Cruz is getting another route back into the IBF lightweight title picture, but the price Matchroom Boxing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-607788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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