Gennady Golovkin has posted a ninth-round stoppage victory over a brave Ryota Murata in Japan to add a second world middleweight belt to his collection.
The Kazakh fighter recently agreed to a third showdown with Saul Alvarez in September, providing that the pair could come through their scheduled bouts.
During the opening third of Golovkin's clash with Murata on Saturday, it felt like a shock could be on the cards as Murata, the WBA champion, withstood Golovkin's power and pummeled the body of the 40-year-old.
Through five, there was an argument that the home fighter was 3-2 ahead on the scorecards, but that perception ultimately proved irrelevant as IBF holder Golovkin took over from the midway point.
Golovkin began to have constant success to the head and it wore down his valiant opponent, whose stock has undoubtedly risen despite falling to defeat.
The finishing blow came in the ninth, Golovkin landing with a big straight right that sent Murata to his knees, and the Japanese's fighter's corner wasted little time in throwing in the towel.
Despite looking past his peak for parts of the bout, Golovkin will now wait to see if Canelo can come through his fight against Dmitry Bivol on May 7.
Darren Plant
