Gennadiy Golovkin vs Ryota Murata fight preview
BBN Editor Tim Rickson breaks down the Golovkin-Murata world title fight
Fearsome Kazakh Gennadiy Golovkin (41-1-1, 36KOs) travels to Japan to face Ryota Murata (16-2-1, 13KOs) in a unification contest.
Since his one and only defeat to Canelo in 2018 ‘GGG’ has won his last three fights. Firstly, he made short work of overmatched Canadian Steve Rolls, who was 19-0 at the time, stopping him in four; then he had a fantastic back and forth battle with Sergey Derevyanchenko, ending via a close unanimous decision victory to claim the vacant IBF and IBO titles; followed by a strong seventh-round stoppage of undefeated 21-0 Kamil Szeremeta, dropping the Pole in four of the seven rounds before he rightfully retired before the eighth.
Born in Nara, Japan, Ryota Murata has two reverses on his record. The first was to skilful Frenchman Hassan N’Dam in 2017, which he admirably avenged in his very next fight with a seventh-round retirement to win the WBA middleweight belt. He defended to Emanuele Blandamura in eight rounds in 2018, before losing it to Rob Brant in his second defence, but once more he righted the wrong to stop Rob Brant in the second round of their rematch in 2019.
Trained by Jonathon Banks, ‘Triple G’ will be his usual immovable self, feet planted, landing his ramrod jab whilst trying to unload power punches. He has slowed down in the twilight of his career, which is understandable at 40, but he is still formidable and fearsome, but the force has visibly faded.
Murata is tough and doesn’t mind standing toe to toe, but this will be a mistake against Golovkin. He is aggressive, but he is also there to be hit, he doesn’t move his head an inch.
In the rematch with Brant, the champion was staggering around for a long time before Murata could actually put him away. It wouldn’t have taken Golovkin that long to finish the fight off.
Betting Odds
‘Triple G’ is naturally the favourite at 6/5 with Betway, while Murata is 13/3 to retain his title, and the odds for a draw is placed at 23/1.
Verdict
I am trying to pay as much respect to Murata as possible, but even with 13 KOs from 16 wins, I don’t believe he has the power to stop or even hurt Golovkin.
He proved his toughness over the two fights with Brant, where he took a lot of punishment in both, but managed to dish out a lot too.
The Golovkin of yesteryear would make very short work of Murata, but at the advanced age of 40, in his 16th year as a pro, will he be able to roll back the years against the 36-year-old Japanese champion?
35 from his first 36 opponents were blown away early in devastating fashion. It wasn’t until Golovkin met Daniel Jacobs, in 2017, that someone forced him to fight right up to the final bell in the 12th round. Since then, every high-calibre opponent has made him go the distance – Canelo, twice, and Sergiy Derevyanchenko. His last two stoppages came against unbeaten boxers, but not of a respectable enough standard. Is Murata a respectable enough standard of fighter to take Golovkin to the final bell?
I suspect not and would expect a stoppage win to Golovkin in the first half of the fight to keep the dreams alive of a trilogy fight with bitter rival, Canelo.