Oct 23 (Japan Times) - Olympic gold medalist Ryota Murata has obtained another shining treasure.
Five months after he lost in a controversial split decision, the 31-year-old Murata gave a dominant performance in a rematch against champion Hassan N'Dam and captured the WBA middleweight title at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan on Sunday.
Murata (13-1, nine KOs) became the first-ever Japanese Olympic gold medalist to win a professional world championship. He is the first Japanese boxer to win a world title in that weight division since former WBA champ Shinji Takehara, who won the same title in 1995.
N'Dam, a Cameroon-born Frenchman, failed to defend the title that he earned in his first match against Murata.
Murata was extremely cautious and threw only a few punches in the first round of the May fight. But he began the rematch in a different fashion. He was in more of an attacking mode this time and fired more blows from the opening round.
Murata got into his stride from the third round. He landed heavy, effective body shots - the type which earned him the gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012 - and began weakening N'Dam.
