Gennady Golovkin fulfilled his end of his deal with Canelo Alavarez by stopping fellow middleweight world champion Ryota Murata.
Golovkin at times showed signs of fatigue as Murata matched him in the early stages but the hard-hitting Kazakh found a second wind in the middle rounds to slowly but surely break down his opponent. The fight looked to be on the verge of being stopped when Murtata's corner threw in the towel in the ninth round.
Golovkin and Murata had been due to clash last December but the fight was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Four months later, the hard-hitting Kazakh knew only victory would be enough to keep alive his hopes of a trilogy bout with Alvarez later this year, assuming the Mexican overcomes Dmitry Bivol in Las Vegas next month
Golovkin had fought sparingly since he was controversially beaten by Alvarez in their 2018 rematch. Victories over Steve Rolls, Sergiy Dereyvanchenko and Kamil Szeremeta followed but concerns lingered over the ageing star's longevity in the sport.
Murata, meanwhile had lost twice before taking on Golovkin but went on to avenge both defeats; first against Hassan N'Dam and then against Rob Brant. The Japanese star had been out of the ring for more than two years having not fought since stopping Steven Butler two days before Christmas in 2019.
And it was Golovkin who looked sharper in the opening exchanges as he found a home for his ram-rod jab. Murata, who was warned for holding, looked to target the body of his older rival.
Murata enjoyed a better second round as he continued his assault on Golovkin's torso while the visitor looked to have lost some of his trademark hand speed. And it was the Japanese star who continued to impress in the third session as both men refused to take a backward step.
Golovkin was struggling to deal with Murata's body shots as the flat-footed veteran began to show signs of wear and tear in the fourth round. But he was still able to answer back to leave the fight finely balanced.
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Murata was warned again at the start of round five as he pushed down on Golovkin who responded by forcing the home favourite on to his back foot as he edged the session. And the veteran continued to assert himself on the fight in the sixth stanza as he knocked out Murata's mouthpiece.
The Japanese star was struggling re-assert himself as the bout entered the second half as Golovkin looked to break down his fellow world champion in search of a stoppage. The referee took his first look at Murata in the eighth round as Golovkin teed off on his rival.
Murata was hurt again at the start of the ninth session before a further onslaught dropped him and convinced his corner to save their man for another day.
