Gennady Golovkin unified the middleweight division again after weathering an early onslaught from Ryota Murata to stop the Japanese in the ninth round in Saitama.
A day after his 40th birthday, Golovkin took some heavy shots early on but started to turn the tide around the halfway point, knocking out his rival's gumshield in the sixth with a bruising right hook.
The Kazakh’s punishing counter right hand stopped Murata in his tracks in the ninth and he fell to the floor as Golovkin swung a wild left haymaker before the towel came in as the referee began the count.
A look back at a BIG GGG stoppage in the 9th. 💥#GGGMurata | @Stake pic.twitter.com/AUfdb767GY
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) April 9, 2022
Golovkin added the WBA title to the IBF and IBO crowns he previously held, all of which he lost when he suffered the only defeat of his professional career against Saul 'Canelo’ Alvarez in September 2018.
A much-anticipated trilogy with the Mexican seemingly awaits Golovkin (now 42-1-1, 37KOs) later this year after his win over London 2012 gold medallist Murata, provided Alvarez beats Dmitry Bivol in a world light-heavyweight title clash next month.
