GGG

Gennadiy Golovkin weathered an early storm from Ryota Murata as he unified the IBF and WBA middleweight titles with a ninth-round stoppage over a brave ...

He's landing left hands a lot more and some looked like they troubled Murata. Golovkin needs more rounds like this if he's to keep his tag as the world's best middleweight. The Golovkin of old is on display now. 10-9 Golovkin Despite an effort to stay in the fight, Golovkin floored him and the towel came flying in immediately. Throwing his trademark short jab with menacing authority, Golovkin began to hurt Murata frequently and the early work enjoyed by the home fighter would be his undoing. Golovkin was having his first fight in over a year and his time away looked like it could haunt him in the fight’s early rounds.

Gennadiy "GGG" Golovkin entered the ring for the first time in almost 16 months against Ryota Murata. The IBF middleweight king stopped Japan's WBA champion ...

12:20pm: It was fun to watch Nakatani work through the repertoire just now and it whets the appetite for getting him in with the other elite operators in the division. ROUND 2: Anything Murata does is drawing huge cheers from the home crowd and there was a fair bit for them to enjoy in that session. The wisdom of that started to look questionable as Nakatani opened up with a relentless volley of shots. ROUND 7: Golovkin's excellent right uppercut comes to the part now and Murata is starting to pay a price for his earlier exertions. ROUND 3: Another good round for Murata. The home favourite continues to relentlessly come forward - a bold strategy but he is effectively pushing Golovkin back. A shuddering jab knocks Murata back and, in responding, the home favourite nails GGG low and gets a warning. Golovkin appears to have taken the best of his opponent, who handily ducked under a huge right just before the bell. As Murata piles forward, Golovkin times the right hand perfectly, follows up with a left hook and it's all over! ROUND 9: Golovkin comes out at the bell and nails Murata with a massive right hand. A left hook sags Murata amid a volley of punches on the ropes. The corner frequently implored GGG to box with "rhythm" and he was methodical in finding the finish, rarely wasting shots. It was easy to pick holes in what Golovkin did early on there, but towards the end it felt like time to appreciate one of the greats while we still can.

Golovkin retained his IBF and IBO middleweight titles while winning the WBA belt in a bout Saturday morning in Saitama, Japan.

Gennadiy Golovkin, fighting Kamil Szeremeta on Friday, is a major favorite. Gennadiy Golovkin, fighting Kamil Szeremeta on Friday, is a major favorite. Golovkin will be in line for a third fight with Alvarez if Alvarez defeats Dmitry Bivol on May 7.