Raymond Muratalla seemingly is ready for the step up to 10-round fights and more imposing opposition.

The skillful, strong lightweight prospect topped Miguel Contreras by sixth-round technical knockout to keep his perfect record intact Saturday night in Las Vegas. The 25-year-old Muratalla, of Fontana, California, improved to 16-0 and produced his 13th knockout against a willing veteran who had taken his power well until the final minute of the sixth round on the Janibek Alimkhanuly-Denzel Bentley undercard at Palms Casino Resort’s Pearl Concert Theater.

Muratalla drilled Contreras with a right hand that hurt him with about 50 seconds to go in the sixth round. After knocking Contreras into the ropes, Muratalla followed up with a left hook and a right uppercut, and then nailed Contreras with back-to-back right hands that made referee Mike Ortega stepped between them to stop their scheduled eight-rounder.

The official time of the stoppage was 2:23 of the sixth round. The courageous Contreras took a lot of punishment prior to the stoppage.

“He’s a tough guy, man,” Muratalla told ESPN’s Mark Kriegel in the ring. “My hat goes off to him. He was tough as hell.”

The rugged Contreras (12-2, 6 KOs), of Bakersfield, California, had only lost to Starling Castillo before Muratalla defeated him. The Dominican Republic’s Castillo (17-1-1, 13 KOs) knocked out Contreras in the second round of their July 2021 bout at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.