From Saitama, Japan, Gennady Golovkin survived a strong attack from Ryota Murata over the first five rounds and controlled the fight thereafter before stopping the Japanese star in the ninth round.
The victory added the WBA middleweight title to that of the IBF championship that Golovkin already owned and set up a fall third fight against Canelo Alvarez, assuming that Alvarez wins his May fight against WBA light heavyweight king Dmitry Bivol.
Murata gave Golovkin plenty of problems in exchanges over the first five rounds and landed many body shots that Golovkin surely felt, including a third-round punch that appeared to affect Golovkin a bit.
However, Murata's attack slowed just as Golovkin began to get his gears running smoothly which led to Golovkin landing the better punches to both the head and the body in the sixth and seventh rounds, including a right hand in the sixth that sent Murata's mouthpiece flying from his mouth.
Murata appeared to be running on fumes and Golovkin hurt him in the eighth and I thought there was a chance that the fight could end in the corner.
Golovkin stepped up the workrate in the rate and sent Murata retreating around the ring in the ninth with Murata in deep trouble along the ropes for most of the round.
Finally, GGG landed a strong straight right that dropped Murata to his knees with the corner throwing in the towel before Murata could rise.
I had Golovkin leading 78-74 after eight rounds but if you had Murata a point closer I wouldn't quibble.
For Golovkin, he fought well enough to raise the intrigue of some for the third fight against Canelo but he also raised some concerns about his ability to take shots to his body.
If you feel them from Ryota Murata, you certainly will be vulnerable to those from Canelo Alvarez.
Golovkin's style is likely always going to be a problem for Canelo Alvarez like Ken Norton's was for Muhammad Ali.
Golovkin's jab is a power jab, not one to create distance like recent opponents of Canelo like Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant and he has the power that Canelo will have to respect that others have lacked.
Still, it's clear that GGG has lost some speed as Canelo moved into his prime, and Canelo will have to be the clear favorite going into the fight.
Assuming Canelo wins, he would finally have his clear win, and to most that will be enough.
However, keep this in mind- when Canelo defeated Miguel Cotto to win the middleweight title and dodged Golovkin for nearly three years, then-promoter Oscar De La Hoya kept claiming that Canelo "Needed time" to mature to the division before fighting the supposedly bigger (they have the same reach with Golovkin holding three inches in height) Golovkin.
Canelo is the fighter that is larger now and I'm not sure that the size factor will matter an extra than it could have then.
Canelo Alvarez will be remembered as a great fighter but even more than the judging in both fights and especially the first fight and even more than Adelaide Byrd, discerning boxing historians will always remember Alvarez putting GGG off for three years before their first to try to "age him out" and insisting on Golovkin, who thrived on fighting often, fighting less by hanging potential dates that could be ruined by cut eye etc, and after the second fight (I'll place the rematch waiting a year due to Clenbuterol aside), making Golovkin wait another four years for a third fight- that will be the historical cross that Canelo Alvarez will have to bear.
We will never know how Canelo Alvarez would done against a prime Gennady Golovkin because either Alvarez and his various promoters never would allow it to take place.
That's boxing for you.
In the co-feature, exciting WBO flyweight champion Junto Nakatani battered and bruised Ryota Yamauchi for eight rounds before the merciful ending in the eighth round.
The 5'7 southpaw nailed Yamauchi with huge shots in the first two rounds and swelling around the eyes of Yamauchi combined with a broken nose gave the challenger a beaten look even before the fight had reached its halfway point.
I had Nakatani leading 69-64 before the ending.
Nakatani might be the best flyweight in the world but with his height, he could do well with a rise in weight, and should he take advantage of a WBO rule that allows a champion of theirs to move up in weight and immediately become the mandatory challenger, Nakatani could face countryman Kazuto Ioka in what would a huge domestic fight in Japan for Ioka's junior bantamweight title.
Boxing Challenge-This total does not include the Saturday evening bouts.
TRS: 48 Pts (4)
Vince Samano: 44 Pts (1)
Ramon Malpica 40 Pts (2)
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