By Allan Fox: WBA World middleweight champion Ryota Murata 14-1, 11 KOs) has been ordered by the World Boxing Association to defend against #3 WBA Rob Brant (23-1, 16 KOs). The WBA sent out letters to the management of Brant and Murata, according to Dan Rafael. The deal has to be done by July 15 before a purse bid takes place.
Brant, 27, was recently beaten by Juergen Braehmer by a 12 round unanimous decision last October in a one-sided fight in the World Boxing Super Series super middleweight tournament.
It’s understandable why Brant lost the fight to the 39-year-old Braehmer, because he fights at light heavyweight most of the time. For the WBSS super middleweight tournament, Braehmer moved down from 175, and Brant moved up from middleweight. The 5’11 ½” Brant didn’t belong in the same ring with the southpaw Braehmer.
After that fight, Brant defeated journeyman Colby Courter (12-12) by a 1st round knockout last March. Brant looked good in that fight, but it was against a non-world class level opponent. Brant can beat those types of fighters without any problems. What we don’t know is how well Brant can do against a top fighter like the 32-year-old Murata.
Brant hasn’t done much to deserve such a high ranking with the WBA. Brant’s best wins have come against Dionisio Miranda, Chris Fitzpatrick and Alexis Hloros. Brant. Murata isn’t much better with the opposition he’s faced. His best wins have come against Hassan NDam, Bruno Sandoval and Geore Tahdooahnippah. Murata has faced horrible opposition, and that includes his championship win over N’Dam.
This will be the second defense for Murata for his WBA ‘regular’ title that he won last October in beating Hassan N’Dam by a 7th round knockout in their rematch in Tokyo, Japan. N’Dam had lost to N’Dam by a controversial 12 round split decision in their previous fight in May of last year. Some boxing fans thought Murata deserved the victory in the first fight. In Murata’s first defense, he beat Emanuele Felice Blandamura by an 8th round knockout last April. Murata had been given a lot of criticism for the weak opposition he’s faced during his 5-year pro career. Murata won an Olympic gold medal in 2012. It was a controversial gold medal for Murata.
WBA Super World middleweight champion Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin could face Murata later this year in December in Tokyo, Japan. That’s a fight that Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler wants to make in the worst way due to the money the fight can make.