Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin edges closer to Canelo redemption, as he added the WBA middleweight to his mantlepiece by stopping Ryota Murata within nine rounds on Japanese turf.
Murata started strong, working Golovkin's body and causing the Kazakh problem. Each time Murata was landing clean to the body, Golovkin's guard would drop, as he struggled to sharpen his footwork early on.
Golovkin grew into the fight, as he began to turn the tide and find himself winning rounds.
Golovkin was landing more and more combo's slowly unraveling Murata's solid work early on.
Murata struggled as Golovkin sapped his energy away by dragging him into a brutal high paced fight, with Golovkin controlling the pace.
It was clear to Murata had fatigued massively entering round nine. Golovkin darted from his corner and instantly landed a heavy right hand.
Golovkin got Murata onto the ropes and emptied the tank, unloading heavy shots.
Golovkin went on to land a perfect straight right and send Murata's body into shut down, prompting his corner to throw the towel in as he went to the floor.
GGG stops Murata in the 9th ????#GGGMuratapic.twitter.com/5WpaRf3sOd
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) April 9, 2022
All eyes now turn to Canelo's clash with Dmitry Bivol on May 7th, as Golovkin has completed his side of the road to the trilogy between the pair.
The undercard saw Japanese lightweight Shuichiro Yoshino announce himself on the world stage as he defeated former world champion Masayuki Ito for the WBO Asia Pacific lightweight title.
WBO World flyweight champion Junto Nakatani scored a eighth round TKO victory over fellow countryman Ryota Yamauchi.
Yuki Kajitani scored a first round TKO victory over Yuki Sato to get his record up to 4-3. Kazuki Anaguchi built on his debut victory as he stopped Ryuji Yamamoto in three rounds to progress to 2-0.
Finally, the battle of the debutants ended in favour of Taigo Kato, as he outpointed Hiroki Amaki over four rounds.