After a slow start in the first four rounds, IBF middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) kicked it into another gear to defeat WBA ‘Super’ champion Ryota Murata (16-3, 13 KOs) by a ninth-round technical knockout on Saturday night in their 160-lb unification fight on DAZN at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
The end came when Golovkin nailed Murata with a tremendous right hand in the 9th round, causing the Japanese fighter to turn around and go down in delayed reaction. While Murata was down, his corner threw in the towel. The time of the stoppage came at 2:11 of the ninth.
Murata wasn’t going to be able to get back up and resume fighting in the condition he was in from the knockdown by GGG in the ninth.
For all intents and purposes, Murata was a spent force from the sixth round after getting his mouthpiece knocked out by a right hand from Golovkin.
That shot seemed to wilt the 36-year-old Murata, who suddenly stopped throwing punches and did very little for the remainder of the round.
In rounds seven and eight, it was all Golovkin, nailing a beaten-looking Murata with massive jabs. Murata was hurt again in the eighth round after Golovkin nailed him with a hard jab that sent him backward against the ropes.
For the last 20 seconds of the round, Murata covered up while Golovkin unloaded on him with nonstop punches.
Surprisingly, referee Luis Pabon didn’t step in to halt the fight. He appeared to be on the verge of stopping it until Murata briefly threw a few half-hearted ‘get off me’ shots at the last seconds.
At the start of the ninth round, Golovkin stunned Murata by nailing him with a huge right hand to the head that shook him to his boots. Moments later, Golovkin finished Murata with a right hand that put him down.
With the victory, Golovkin sets himself up for a possible trilogy fight against superstar Canelo Alvarez on September 17th on DAZN PPV.
Whether that fight happens will depend on Canelo beating WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7th. Don’t be surprised if Canelo is soundly beaten by Bivol in this fight because this guy has a style that is all wrong for him.
It’s fair to say that Golovkin will need to fight A LOT better in the early going in the trilogy match with Canelo if he’s to have any chance of beating him.
Tonight, Golovkin started very slow, getting beaten to the punch and worked over by the 36-year-old Murata in rounds one through four. Murata fought well enough to win the quarter of the contest with his powerful right hands to the head, and particularly with his body shots.
It wasn’t until Golovkin loosened up in the six that he took over the fight, as he looked more relaxed, jabbing, boxing & moving around the ring. In that round, Golovkin caught Murata with a right hand that knocked his mouthpiece out.
Once that happened, Murata suddenly stopped throwing punches altogether, and immediately seized the moment, springing on the hurt Japanese start to work him over with shots.
One real negative thing about Golovkin’s performance tonight was how tired he looked. GGG looked exhausted, gasping for breath in the early rounds, two through five, struggling from the pace & pressure from Murata.
Golovkin looked very old, not the guy that he’d been in his two fights with Canelo Alvarez, or even in his subsequent matches against Steve Rolls, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, and Kamil Szeremeta.
The inactivity and the aging have a number on Golovkin’s stamina, weakening him, causing him to struggle to defeat Murata tonight. A prime Golovkin from 2013 would have likely wiped Murata out within three rounds or less tonight because he didn’t look impressive.
