## JAPAN UPDATE

May 22, 2014

KYOTO, JAPAN

Ex-Olympic gold medalist in London, unbeaten Japanese middleweight Ryota Murata (4-0, 4 KOs), 161.5, impressively decked his fourth professional bout by demolishing Mexican Jesus Nerio (12-4, 6 KOs), 160, at 2:35 of the sixth round on Thursday in Kyoto, Japan.

Murata, 28, made an anticipated herofs return to the place where he started to learn how to box at South Kyoto high school thirteen years ago, gathering many friends and supporters out of his alma mater. Murata, whose amateur mark was 118-19 with 88 stoppages, became the second Japanese that acquired the gold medal since bantamweight southpaw Takao Sakurai in 1968. The middleweight winner, however, is greatly expected to reach the top of the paid ranks through his promotional contract under Top Rank Inc. via Teiken Promotions. The cultivation of Murata up to the professional goal will be a gigantic-to-be project in association with Dentsu and Fuji TV with him emerging as a more famous and brighter athlete than now.

Murata, from the outset, began battering a durable Mexican hombre with solid combinations of one-two-left uppercut to the belly. The second saw the sturdy Mexican furiously attack the tight-guarded Murata, who blocked almost all punches and effectively retaliated with solid combos to the face and midsection. Accelerating his assault, Murata, in round five, lopsidedly whipped Nerio from all angles and had him at bay with his incessant combos with Mexican having a narrow escape at the bell.

A fine finish was witnessed midway in the sixth, when Murata at first dropped him with a flurry of punches, swarmed over Nerio who gamely resumed fighting and finally sent him again to the deck with a penetrating straight right to the face. It was a beautiful eye-catching haymaker that stunned the crowd without doubt.

Murata, coached by Cuban trainer Ismael Salas and seconded by excellent cutman Miguel Diaz, displayed his remarkable improvement in offense and defense, given such a quality of his oppositin, as his balance apparently improved in every fight. In accordance with Akihiko Honda, his mentor/promoter, Murata will next appear in his fifth pro bout in September and participate in his sixth in December. A future champion is in the making.

### Undercard:

Unbeaten local prospect Shohei Omori (12-0, 7 KOs), scored a fine stoppage of WBC#9 bantam Christian Esquivel (27-5, 20 KOs), 120, Mexico, at 1:35 of the fourth session in a supporting eight.

Former WBC flyweight champ and ex-OPBF bantam kingpin, Japan-based Filipino Malcolm Tunacao (34-3-3, 20 KOs), now campaigning as a superfly at 115.75, showed a lackluster performance, but his faster reflexes managed to carry him to a unanimous verdict (78-75, 79-74, 79-73) over Korean flyweight titlist Joo-Hyun Jung (6-3-1, 2 KOs), 115.75, over eight. The Korean was a better fighter than his mediocre credential indicated, as he kept smoking the elusive counterpuncher regardless of precision with his abundant stamina.

Promoter: Teiken Promotions.

(5-22-2014)

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