WBA ‘Regular’ World middleweight champion Ryota Murata (14-1-0, 11 KO’s) may be in line for a shot at divisional kingpin Gennady Golovkin in the not too distant future, according to the Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler.
“You know, Murata’s really one of those guys who’s really blazing a trail,” Loeffler explained, following Golovkin’s most recent victory over Vanes Matirosyan. “(He is) selling out arenas in Japan, (and) getting tremendous ratings on television.”
Top-Rank promoted Murata – who won gold in the middleweight division at the London Olympic Games – is hugely popularity in his homeland and is widely regarded by boxing aficionados as one of the hottest prospects in the division.
The 2012 Olympic gold medallist previously boasted an undefeated record of 12 wins and 9 knockouts until May 2017, when he suffered a highly controversial decision loss to Hassan N’Dam on home soil – where two of the three judges inexplicably scored the bout in favour of the Cameroonian, sparking much indignation from the Japanese crowd.
Nevertheless, fan favourite Murata immediately rebounded to avenge his loss six months later, mercilessly pummelling N’Dam into submission after seven rounds to capture the WBA ‘Regular’ championship. Murata would make his first defence of the title against Emanuele Blandamura in Yokohama, in-front of a monster live TV audience.
Legendary promoter Bob Arum, who promotes Murata, has spoken of his interest in the bout of numerous occasions, even suggesting that the bout would sell out the infamous Tokyo Dome – the scene of Mike Tyson’s notorious upset loss to James ‘Buster’ Douglas in 1990.
“You’ve got to understand, nobody has ever seen anything like this in Japan for a Japanese fighter.” Arum told BoxingScene.
“He [Murata] is getting ratings that are not to be believed, that are bigger than baseball. 15 million people who watched the [Blandamura] fight live on a Sunday night and it peaked at 17 million. That’s a country that has barely a hundred million people. That’s something incredible, like Super Bowl kind of numbers.” Arum finished.
Meanwhile, Golovkin once again displayed his destructive prowess on Cinco de Mayo weekend after eviscerating game veteran Vanes Martirosyan of Armenia inside two rounds at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Golovkin-Murata will be the biggest boxing event in Japanese history (yes, including Tyson-Douglas). I'm looking forward to covering that card live and checking out Tokyo, I've never been. Should be fun.#boxing#MonteroOnBoxing#GGG#GolovkinMurata#ボクシング#ボクシングの日
— Michael Montero (@MonteroOnBoxing) May 26, 2018
Like his Japanese counterpart, Karaganda native Golovkin is also an Olympic medallist and has similarly fallen victim to some questionable judging as of late that tarnished his previously unblemished professional record of 37 wins with 33 knockouts; incidentally, a record identical to Mike Tyson’s before his sensational 1990 defeat to James ‘Buster’ Douglas in Tokyo.
Being crowned undisputed champion by holding all four major titles simultaneously has long been Golovkin’s explicit aspiration. However, a triumvirate of potential challengers – IBF number one contender Sergey Derevyanchenko, WBC interim champion Jermell Charlo, and Murata himself – stand in the way, something which Loeffler recognises.
“I think there’s a lot of different options,” Loeffler said.
“It seems like the middleweight division has opened up and it actually seems like these guys want to fight Triple-G. Before, they would scatter for the hills.”
With the ‘Canelo’ Alvarez rematch looking less-likely by the day, Murata would present an intriguing opportunity for Golovkin. As well as a crowd-pleasing style, the contest would surely be a commercial success also. With Golovkin expected to fight twice more before the end of the year, a swift resolution to rumours of his next opponent is expected.
Article by: Navi Singh
You can follow Navi on Twitter at: @hombre__obscuro