Gennadiy Golovkin unifies belts with win vs. Ryoto Murata

IBF middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin. Kyodo News

Gennadiy Golovkin unifies middleweight belts with TKO win vs. Ryoto Murata

By Adam Stites | Last updated 4/9/22

Gennadiy Golovkin won a fourth straight fight Saturday with a punishing performance against Ryoto Murata that was stopped in the ninth round. With the win, "Triple G" is now on the verge of a third bout with Canelo Alvarez.

Golovkin, 40, traded shots with Murata early before taking over later in the fight. In the ninth round, Murata was clipped and dazed by a right hand from Golovkin. He took a knee and his corner threw in the towel, ending the fight as a technical knockout win for Golovkin.

GGG stops Murata in the 9th #GGGMurata pic.twitter.com/5WpaRf3sOd
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) April 9, 2022

According to CompuBox, Golovkin landed 257 of his 629 punches while Murata landed 144 of his 592.

In February, Golovkin and pound-for-pound No. 1 boxer Canelo Alvarez agreed to a third fight that is set to happen in September. But the trilogy bout was contingent on Golovkin getting through Murata, and is now set to happen so long as Alvarez can beat Dmitry Bivol in May.

Golovkin and Alvarez fought to a draw in September 2017, one of only three blemishes on Canelo's 57-1-2 record. In a September 2018 rematch, Alvarez won via majority decision.

With his win Saturday, Golovkin unified his IBF and IBO middleweight belts with the WBA middleweight title he took from Murata.

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