Gennady Golovkin of Kazakhstan celebrates victory against Rayota Murata of Japan during their WBA IBF Middleweight Championship Boxing Bout at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama on April 9, 2022. (Photo by Philip Fong / AFP)
Gennady Golovkin won the ninth round TKO against Ryota Murata on Saturday to combine the IBF and WBA middleweight titles in Saitama, Japan.
Fighting early, Golvkin (42-1-1) used in-fight adjustments to rally for victory one day after his 40th birthday. The victory of the Kazakhstani locals could lead to a third fight with Canelo Alvarez later this year.
Look back at a BIG GGG stop at 9 3#GGGMurata | Steak pic.twitter.com/AUfdb767GY
– DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) April 9, 2022
Golovkin, the IBF and IBO champion since 2019, previously had the WBC title.
Murata (16-3), a local from Japan who won the WBA title in January, initially used body injuries to take advantage of Golvkin, but could not stop his opponent, who went to shake the combination for the rally.
GGG is getting hot now#GGGMurata pic.twitter.com/fT96CxgOLm
– DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) April 9, 2022
Alvarez will face Dmitry Bivol next May 7, a victory that will probably set another meeting with Golvkin. Alvarez and Golvkin fought for a draw in 2017 and Alvarez won the match again in 2018.
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