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Actor-turned-boxer Javon “Wanna” Walton took a loss in the ring over the weekend, but he put up a strong fight against former UFC champion Henry Cejudo.
Walton, 20, is best known for playing Ashtray on Euphoria, but had been training to become a boxer before the HBO series ever entered his radar. Now 3-1-1 in his career, Walton fell by split decision to Cejudo, 39, who was making his professional boxing debut.
The four-round welterweight bout on Saturday, September 26, went 39-37 in favor of Cejudo, the freestyle wrestling Olympic gold medalist.
“It was close. I knew he won Round 1, but I felt like the rest of the rounds were all me,” Cejudo said after the bout, according to ESPN. “I told him after, ‘You’re a lot tougher than I thought.’ 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.”
Walton, who had dozens of amateur bouts under his belt before turning pro, spoke to Us after a draw against Joshua Torres in March 2024.
“There’s a lot I took away from that fight,” he said at the time. “That was 20 percent of what I’ve been able to fight at. The performance wasn’t exactly what I wanted.”
He continued, “I was dealing with some injuries. I’m not here to talk about those. I’ve never talked about those before. In the boxing world, I know what I’m capable of and I know what I can show everybody in the ring. I want to show people I’m here for a reason. I’m not fighting on this big stage just because I got here with ease.”
The super featherweight added that he was undaunted by the draw with Torres, 35.
“I will continue to showcase to the world why I’m here and one day I’ll be able to fight for a world title,” he said.
Walton, who currently signed to Jake Paul‘s Most Valuable Promotions, also told Us at the time that he was not worried about facing established UFC pros to help raise his profile.
“For me personally, that’s not very important to me,” he said. “I want to fight all fighters that have been in the game. I want every fight to be a test. That’s the only way to build to that world title fight, by fighting official boxers that have amateur backgrounds, that have professional backgrounds.”
He added, “I want to fight top-level guys 24/7. The boxing stuff isn’t a money play for me.”
