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It has been more than two years since Ryota Murata has been able to soak in the ambience that comes with a big fight night.
A career-long 28-month inactive stretch will come to an end once Tokyo’s Murata (16-2, 13KOs) returns to the ring this Saturday. The 2012 Olympic Gold medalist and reigning WBA “Super” middleweight titlist could not have picked a more appropriate fight for the occasion, as he faces Kazakhstan’s Gennadiy Golovkin (41-1-1, 36KOs) in a WBA/IBF unification bout in front of a sellout crowd at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
“I’m grateful for the many fans that support me after the long layoff,” Murata told BoxingScene.com through a translator. “It’s important to have a big crowd in the arena, and it’s a big fight for Japanese boxing.”
The event is arguably the biggest in the Far East since the pandemic, as Japan’s boxing scene has struggled during the global health crisis. Between net losses in 2020 and 2021 and a costly payout to the Kameda family in a high six-figure lawsuit, the Japanese Boxing Commission (JBC) was forced to begin liquidation in efforts to pay off its mounting debt.
Saturday’s title unification bout—which will air live on DAZN in the U.S. (5:10 a.m. ET) and on Amazon Prime in Japan—should help the commission along with pumping revenue into the local economy. Most of the shows in Japan since the pandemic have taken place behind closed doors or socially distanced crowds.
Murata-Golovkin is a return to normalcy, along with serving as the most significant middleweight fight since Golovkin’s narrow points loss to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in their September 2018 championship rematch. It will be the 13th home appearance for Murata, though his first since since December 2019,
“I hope this fight will play a part in bringing back the sports and entertainment industry after the pandemic,” notes Murata.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox