Gennady Golovkin vs. Ryōta Murata
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| Date | April 9, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Saitama Super Arena, Saitama City, Saitama, Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA (Super), IBF, and IBO middleweight titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Golovkin wins via 9th round TKO | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gennady Golovkin vs. Ryōta Murata, billed as Big Drama in Japan, was a middleweight unification professional boxing match contested between IBF and IBO champion, Gennady Golovkin and WBA (Super) champion, Ryōta Murata. The bout took place at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan on April 9, 2022.[1]
Background[edit]
After multiple rumors of a middleweight unification match between titlists Gennady Golovkin and Ryōta Murata, it was announced on October 27, 2021 that a deal had finally been agreed between the two to stage the bout in the latter's home country of Japan, at the Saitama Super Arena on December 29, 2021.[2] However, the bout was postponed due to Japan closing its borders because of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.[3] It was later rescheduled on April 9, 2022.[1]
Golovkin is a two-time middleweight champion, having held the IBF and IBO titles since defeating Sergiy Derevyanchenko in a fight of the year contender in 2019.[4] He previously held the unified WBA (Super), WBC, IBF and IBO titles between 2014 and 2018, in addition to being ranked as the world's best boxer, pound for pound, from September 2017 to September 2018 by The Ring magazine. Prior to the bout against Murata, he made a record 21st middleweight title defense against Kamil Szeremeta on December 18, 2020.[5]
Murata is an Olympic gold medalist, having claimed gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[6] As a professional, he has defeated every opponent he has faced, having avenged decision losses against Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam and Rob Brant with stoppage victories.[7]
The fight[edit]
Murata started fast and seemed to control the pace for some of the early rounds until Golovkin took over by the mid-rounds. Golovkin inflicted tremendous punishment on Murata in round eight. The end came in round nine when after a hard right hand dropped Murata, the Japanese's corner threw in their towel, giving Golovkin a ninth-round technical knockout win.[8]
Fight card[edit]
| Weight Class | vs. | Method | Round | Time | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middleweight |  Gennady Golovkin (c)
|
def. |  Ryōta Murata (c)
|
TKO | 9/12 | 2:11 | Note 1 |
| Lightweight | Shuichiro Yoshino (c)
|
def. | Masayuki Ito
|
TD | 11/12 | 2:20 | Note 2 |
| Flyweight | Junto Nakatani (c)
|
def. | Ryota Yamauchi
|
TKO | 8/12 | 2:20 | Note 3 |
| Super bantamweight | Kazuki Anaguchi
|
def. | Ryuji Yamamoto
|
TKO | 3/6 | 0:56 | |
| Welterweight | Taiga Kato
|
def. | Hiroka Amaki
|
UD | 4/4 |
^Note 1 For WBA (Super), IBF, and IBO middleweight titles
^Note 3 For WBO Asia Pacific and OPBF lightweight titles
^Note 3 For WBO flyweight title
Broadcasting[edit]
| Country/Region | Free-to-air | Cable/Satellite | PPV | Stream |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan (host)
|
— | Amazon Prime[9] | ||
| Kazakhstan
|
Qazaqstan, Qazsport | — | TBA | |
 South Korea
|
— | SPOTV | — | SPOTV NOW |
| Worldwide | — | DAZNexcl. | ||
^excl. Live on DAZN worldwide, excluding Japan, Kazakhstan and South Korea
References[edit]
- ^ a b Coppinger, Mike (1 March 2022). "Gennadiy Golovkin-Ryota Murata middleweight title unification fight set for April 9 in Japan, sources say". ESPN. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ "Sources: Golovkin, Murata agree on Dec. 29 bout". ESPN.com. 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
- ^ The Athletic Staff (3 December 2021). "Gennadiy Golovkin vs. Ryota Murata postponed due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in Japan". The Athletic. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ "Golovkin vs Derevyanchenko: GGG rallies to edge out Sergiy Derevyanchenko". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
- ^ "GGG dominates Szeremeta in 7th-round stoppage". ESPN.com. 2020-12-19. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
- ^ Christ, Scott (2012-08-11). "Olympics 2012 Boxing Results: Ryota Murata Edges Esquiva Falcao For Middleweight Gold Medal". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
- ^ "BoxRec: Ryota Murata". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
- ^ Daniels, Tim. "Gennadiy Golovkin Defeats Ryota Murata by 9th-Round TKO". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
- ^ "村田諒太－ゴロフキン戦はAmazon生配信、地上波生中継なし - ボクシング : 日刊スポーツ". nikkansports.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-11-13.