Reigning unified IBF and IBO middleweight champion of the world Gennadiy Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) has now added the WBA (Super) title to his collection after a hard-fought 9th round TKO victory over Ryoto Murata at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama City this Saturday night, ahead of the Kazakhstani’s much anticipated trilogy fight against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez later this year.
Coming off of a dominating win over Kamil Szeremeta in December 2020, the Murata fight, billed as “Big Drama in Japan”, was vital for Golovkin to secure a spot for the upcoming Canelo matchup, potentially taking place on 17th September with the Mexican’s undisputed crown at 168 on the line. Canelo, on the other hand, needs to secure a win against WBA light heavyweight champ Dmitry Bivol on 7th May to do his part in making the trilogy fight happen.
Returning to the squared circle a day after his 40th birthday as well as 15.5 months since his win over Szeremeta, Golovkin was in a tight spot early in the fight, as the hard-hitting Murata was dominant in the first five rounds. However, “GGG” eventually found his rhythym as the fight progressed and turned the tables in the late rounds, battering the Japanese pugilist before dropping him in the ninth.
“I would like to thank all the people who came to see this beautiful show,” said GGG after his victory over Murata, “Everyone who supported us, who organized this beautiful event. I am sincerely grateful to you.”
“I want to thank Ryota Murata and his team for what you saw,” the 40-year-old praised his opponent, “he showed only the best side, as a real warrior, as a real fighter – fought to the last, while on his feet.” [H/T Astanatimes.com]
Gennadiy Golovkin vs Ryota Murata full fight card results:
- Middleweight: Gennadiy Golovkin defeats Ryota Murata via 9th round TKO
- Lightweight: Shuichiro Yoshino defeats Masayuki Ito via technical decision
- Flyweight: Junto Nakatani defeats Ryota Yamauchi via 8th round TKO
- Super Bantamweight: Kazuki Anaguchi defeats Ryuji Yamamoto via 3rd round TKO
- Welterweight: Taiga Kato defeats Hiroka Amaki via 4 round decision
