Ryota Murata Destroys Steven Butler in Five!
Ryota Murata’s (16-2, 13 KOs) first defense the WBA “Regular” World Middleweight title ended in resounding success. He successfully overpowered Steven Butler (28-3, 24 KOs) in five rounds at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan.
THE BREAKDOWN
Both men stood in the center of the ring and let the punches go during the early rounds. Butler looked to land jabs and body punches while Murata attacked behind his signature high guard landing lefts and rights.
Butler has a bad habit of either admiring his work or stepping straight back after throwing a combination. A fighter of Murata’s experience took note and began to find a home for right-hands and body shots in rounds three and four.
The champion continued the pressure in the 5th. Forcing the challenger to fight backward, he was starting to dominate. Late in the round, he stunned Butler and finished matters off in spectacular fashion by way of a powerful right-hand with fifteen seconds to go in the round.
CONCLUSION
This performance was an impressive one from Murata. He wore down and beat up what proved to be an over-matched opponent. Having previously expressed a desire to fight big-name middleweights like Gennady Golovkin and “Canelo” Alvarez (assuming Alvarez moves back down to 160-pounds), now is the time for the highly-popular 33-year-old from Tokyo to take the next step and face the elite fighters in the division.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
