Ryota Murata Wants Billy Joe Saunders Title Shot

By Rick Reeno

MGM Grand, Las Vegas - Last  night, Olympic gold medal winner Ryota Murata (11-0, 8KOs) of Japan demolished George "Comanche Boy" Tahdooanippah in one round.  The fight was part of the Terence Crawford vs. Viktor Postol undercard.

Murata dropped him with a hard shot to the body. Once Comanche Boy got to his feet, Murata pinned him in the corner and unloaded with numerous hard right hands to the head until the referee jumped in to save Comanche Boy from further damage.

"I worked on better balance to develop more power and it worked tonight," Murata said. "I felt strong in the ring.

Murata, already 30-years-old, is being fast-tracked after turning pro in 2013. Because there is a serious lack of middleweight fighters in Japan, Murata has not been as active as his promoters would have liked.

Activity aside, the Japanese fighter is ready to go all the way. After his match last night, Murata called for a shot at WBO middleweight world champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12KOs).

"I would like to fight Saunders for the world title," Murata said. 

Saunders has been inactive since capturing the title last December with a twelve round decision victory over Andy Lee. An injury derailed a planned first title defense earlier this year. Discussions for a potential unification with unified champion Gennady Golovkin fell apart over the money. There is still no definitive word on what Saunders plans to do next.