YOKOHAMA – Star Japanese boxer Ryota Murata successfully defended his World Boxing Association middleweight title with a fifth-round technical knockout of Steven Butler at Yokohama Arena on Monday night.
And if one of the sport’s most influential figures gets his wish, Murata will have an even bigger bout on home soil in the first half of next year.
The London Olympics middleweight gold medalist took control of the Yokohama ring from the opening bell with his signature fighting style — pressing his opponent and landing heavy blows.
Murata (16-2, 13 KOs) made circles around the 24-year-old challenger, utilizing a variety of punches in his arsenal to deliver regular damage — including straight rights, hooks and body blows.
Murata concluded the night in round five raining punches on the weakened Butler (28-2-1, 24 KOs), who finally fell to the canvas. Rafael Ramos stopped the fight right away, with 15 seconds remaining.
“His jab is stronger than I thought and I was surprised,” Murata said of Butler, who is ranked eighth in the WBA and first in the WBO, after the bout.
Murata added: “It’s been a year of upheaval, but I feel like I’ve finally been able to establish my own style of boxing.”
Murata had recaptured the WBA title with a second-round win over Rob Brant, who defeated the Japanese in Las Vegas in 2018, in a July rematch in Osaka.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who attended the event, said that he would like to have Murata fight against either Gennady Golovkin or Canelo Alvarez “before the Olympics” next year.
“So what we hope really is, before the (Tokyo) Olympics, we hope to either get Canelo Alvarez or GGG over here to Japan do a big, big event with Murata in the Tokyo Dome,” Arum told reporters. “Both fighters have indicated to me that they would love to come to Japan and do a big fight against Murata and that’s what I hope to accomplish.”
Meanwhile, WBC light flyweight titleholder Kenshiro Teraji defended his belt for the seventh time with a fourth-round technical knockout of interim champion Randy Petalcorin.
Teraji struggled somewhat against the southpaw fighter from the Philippines early on but found a way to bounce back in the third round.
The 27-year-old (17-0, 10 KOs) knocked down Petalcorin (31-4-1, 23 KOs) three times in the third round, all with body shots, and ended the bout just over a minute into the next round. Teraji wrapped it up with a perfect combination of a right straight and left body shot.
“I took some left shots and have to reflect on that,” said Teraji, who had his first bout since changing his ring name from Ken Shiro to his real name. “But I was able to knock him out and can give myself credit overall.”
Teraji had originally been slated to compete against IBF champ Felix Alvarado in a unification match, but the Nicaraguan withdrew due to an illness.
On the same card Monday, veteran boxer Akira Yaegashi was TKO’d by IBF flyweight champ Moruti Mthalane in the ninth round.
Yaegashi (28-7, 16 KOs), 36, courageously fought toe-to-toe against Mthalane but eventually fell to the South African. Mthalane (39-2, 26 KOs) damaged Yaegashi with a devastating body shot in the eighth and landed a heavy right late in the ninth. Referee Mario Gonzalez subsequently stopped the fight with six seconds left.
Earlier in the day in Yokohama, former pound-for-pound king Roman Gonzalez posted a second-round TKO win over Diomel Diocos, who was making his debut. It was the first fight in 15 months for Gonzalez (48-2, 40 KOs), who underwent right knee surgery.
