Murata Sizzles in Japan; Ditto for Khan in Saudi Arabia

Ryota Murata and Amir Khan looked very good today in their respective fights in Japan and Saudi Arabia. Murata’s performance was more noteworthy as he, unlike Khan, was in tough, although you wouldn’t have known it if this was your first look at his opponent, Rob Brant.

They say that great champions are at their best in rematches and, if so, perhaps one could be forgiven for attaching the label “great” (spurning “inconsistent”) to Ryota Murata. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist was on the wrong end of a ridiculously bad decision when he fell to Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam in a bid for the vacant WBA middleweight title in 2017. In the rematch, Murata dominated the French-Cameroonian who pulled out after seven frames.

Murata’s second defeat came in October of last year in Las Vegas where he lost a wide 12-round decision to Brant. Today in the friendly confines of Osaka he avenged that defeat with an emphatic second round stoppage.

What a turnaround!

In their first encounter, Murata was thoroughly out-worked and faulted for not fighting with any sense of urgency. Today, after an intense, fairly even first round, Murata turned up the heat, battering Brant around the ring with a fusillade of punches, knocking Brant down midway through the round and then continuing his assault until the referee had no choice but to waive it off.

Now a two-time world title-holder, Murata, a big star in Japan, improved his record to 15-2 with his 12^th knockout. Brant, who is from Minnesota but trains in Houston, fell to 25-2. Both of his losses have come overseas, the first in Germany to battle-hardened veteran Juergen Braehmer.

Co-Feature

In the co-feature, Ken Shiro (16-0, 9 KOs) successfully defended his WBC light flyweight title with a fourth-round stoppage of Jonathan Taconing (28-4-1). Shiro knocked Taconing down with a combination and although Taconing beat the count, the referee thought it prudent to call a halt and the fight was stopped without another punch being thrown. Taconing, from the Philippines, was making his third stab at a world title. He hadn’t previously been stopped.

This was the sixth successful title defense for the ever-improving 27-year-old Shiro. A possible unification fight looms with countryman Hiroti Kyoguchi (13-0) who holds another version of the 108-pound belt.

JEDDAH

In what was hyped as a landmark event, Amir Khan, in his first fight with new trainer Clarence “Bones” Adams, had no trouble dispatching Billy Dib, knocking the brave but overmatched Aussie down in the second round with a classic left hook before blasting him out in the fourth with a combination of body punches. Dib was slumped against the ropes when his corner threw in the towel.

Dib, who took the fight on three weeks notice, was moving up three weight classes. With the victory, Khan gathered up a reported $7 million plus some cornball WBC doodad. In his defense, however, he looked as fast as ever — blazing hand speed has always been Khan’s chief asset — and showed that he will still be a force at welterweight, albeit a notch down from top guns Errol Spence Jr and former opponent Terence Crawford.

After the bout, Khan called out Manny Pacquiao.

In a messy fight, Hughie Fury (23-2, 13 KOs) recorded a seventh-round stoppage of washed-out Samuel Peter (38-8) who bowed out following that round with a possible shoulder injury. Both fighters, especially Peter, landed low blows during the inelegant scrum and Peter had a point deducted for hitting on the break.

Also, Venezuelan bantamweight Michell Banquez (19-1, 13 KOs) scored a wide 12-round decision over England’s previously undefeated Prince Patel (19-1-1). The scores were 118-110 and 119-109 twice. Banquez had fought stiffer competition and although Patel theoretically had the home field advantage in a Muslim country, the result wasn’t unexpected.

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