By Hisao Adachi

Teiken Promotions have announced that Olympic gold medalist winner Ryota Murata (8-0, 5 KOs), who is ranked at #4 in the WBC's middleweight raitings, will face Gaston Alejandro Vega (24-10-1, 10 KOs) of Argentina on January 30th in Shanghai.

The event will be headlined by Chinese superstar Zou Shiming in a battle with Natan Santana Coutinho. Ik Kang and Yi Ming Ma are also going to be featured on the card. The event is promoted by Top Rank.

Murata, already 29-years-old, is aiming for a shot at a world championship in the near future.

Murata made his American debut last November, winning a ten round decision over Gunnar Jackson on the Timothy Bradley-Brandon Rios undercard at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. This will be Murata's second time fighting in the country of China.

The current WBC champion is Mexico's Saul "Canelo" Alvarez who owes a mandatory defense to Gennady "GGG" Golovkin in the fall. Canelo will make a voluntary defense on May 7th.