Henry Cejudo Wins Split Decision in Boxing Debut Over Walton
Henry Cejudo won his professional boxing debut Saturday night in Miami.
The former two-division UFC champion took a split decision over Javon “Wanna” Walton after four rounds at 147 pounds on the Misfits Boxing card at the James L. Knight Center.
Judge Manuel Marquez scored it 39-37 for Cejudo. Judge Mario Perez had it 39-37 for Walton. Judge John Rupert returned 39-37 for Cejudo.
The result made Cejudo 1-0 as a boxer. Walton fell to 3-1-1 with one knockout.
DAZN carried the main event. It closed a Miami card that also included Tony Ferguson stopping Mahmoud Sebie in the co-main.
Walton was not the planned opponent. Nurideen Shabazz, known as Deen the Great, withdrew with an injury, and the 20-year-old actor took the fight on short notice.
Cejudo is 39. Walton had height, reach, and youth. That showed in the first round.
Walton used his length to keep Triple C on the end of left hands. Cejudo later said the opening round went the other way.
“It was close,” Cejudo said. “I knew he won Round 1, but I felt like the rest of the rounds were all me.”
He closed the distance after that. The Olympic gold medalist started timing Walton’s entries and answering with right hands.
Every round stayed competitive. Neither man found a finish.
Walton is best known for playing Ashtray on HBO’s Euphoria. He also came in with a real amateur boxing background and a previously unblemished pro ledger.
That resume did not buy him two judges. Cejudo’s pressure in the middle rounds and a busy fourth were enough for the split.
Cejudo retired from MMA in December after a loss to Payton Talbott at UFC 323. He has stayed busy in 2026 with wrestling matches against Merab Dvalishvili and Urijah Faber.
Saturday added a new sport to the same résumé. Flyweight and bantamweight titles in the UFC, an Olympic gold medal, and now a boxing win at welterweight.
He did not treat the replacement as the last word.
“Deen the Duck, where are you?” Cejudo said afterward. “This dude ducked me. It’s time for me to put his ass down.”
He also offered Walton a rematch.
“I told him after, ‘You’re a lot tougher than I thought,’” Cejudo said. “He’s been doing this since he was 4 years old. He’s got a bright future. It was on two weeks’ notice. I told him that out of respect, I would love to run it back with him.”
No date was set for either fight. Misfits has not announced Cejudo’s next booking.
The split scores explain why. Walton won a round on every card and took one judge outright.
Cejudo still left the ring with his hand raised. He covered the distance Walton tried to own and finished the four rounds with more of the judges on his side.
That is a clean debut on paper and a close one in the ring. The 39-year-old champion from another sport did not get dropped and did not get run out of the building.
Walton can say he took the assignment late and still stole a scorecard. Cejudo can say he adjusted after Round 1 and won the fight he was asked to take.
The next question is whether Misfits puts him in with Shabazz or brings Walton back. Cejudo asked for both conversations before he left the ring.
For one night in Miami, the result was simpler. Triple C went four rounds at 147 pounds and won his first professional boxing fight by split decision.