LAS VEGAS — Saturday was supposed to be Ryota Murata's coming-out party in the United States against Rob Brant. Brant had other plans, however, and snatched away Murata's WBO "regular" middleweight title with a unanimous decision victory at the Park Theater at Park MGM on ESPN+.
Murata had plans to face Gennady Golovkin or Saul "Canelo" Alvarez for his next fight and the oddsmakers had installed him as a significant favorite against Brant, the St. Paul, Minn., product. Brant, though, had the perfect game plan for his hard-hitting foe, who claimed Olympic gold at the 2012 Games. Rather than wait around and see what the Japanese star had to offer, Brant came out with his foot on the gas from the opening bell.
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Brant (24-1, 16 KOs) started off quickly by pumping the jab and putting together combinations. Murata (14-2, 11 KOs) appeared to be entertained by his opponent's fast and furious approach and smiled throughout the opening round. He wouldn't be smiling long, though.
As the rounds passed, Brant didn't exactly seem to be slowing down. Although Murata was the harder puncher, Brant landed with far more frequency. In the fourth round, it appeared that Brant had started to slow down and Murata began to launch hard shots to the body in order to take the wind out of sails. The approach had benefits and led to a scintillating exchange in the fifth round when Murata smelled blood in the water and fired heavy leather in Bravo's direction. The round was very telling for Brant, however; he weathered the storm and came roaring back with stinging right hands that snapped back the head of Japan's prized boxer.
Although Brant began to slow down, he never slowed enough for Murata to take full advantage. Each round was extremely close, with Brant's sustained output going head-to-head with Murata's power punching.
With the smile no longer being worn, Murata knew he needed to do something drastic. Unfortunately for him, Brant caught a second wind and came on strong in the championship rounds. An action-packed final round saw Brant put an exclamation point on his performance with a pair of wicked right hands that wobbled Murata.
In the end, the judges saw the bout for Brant by a wide margin: 118-110, 119-109 and 119-109. Sporting News saw it in favor of Brant as well, but with a much closer scorecard of 115-113.
Murata vs. Brant results
12:38 a.m.: Rob Brant def. Ryota Murata via unanimous decision. Scores were 118-110, 119-109 and 119-109.
12:31 a.m. (Round 12) : Murata is coming after Brant, but Brant is still pumping the jab and ripping off combinations. Hard right hand from Brant backs Murata up. Straight right from Brant. Another right hand and a combination rocks Murata. These two are tired, but Brant is willing himself to be the more active puncher. Combination from Brant gets through Murata's guard and stuns him. Brant pounding on Murata. He's hurt. Brant closes the round with one huge right hand. Sporting News scores the fight in favor of Rob Brant 115-113.
12:28 a.m. (Round 11) : Brant is back to beating Murat to the punch. Murata with a hard right hand, but Brant returns fire with a three-punch combination of his own. It's Brant's activity that is taking the championship rounds thus far. Murata is hoping to land a home run, but Brant's pesky combinations won't allow him to set up the big shot he's looking for. Four-punch combination from Brant. Hard right hand from Brant. Yet another strong round from Bravo Brant. Brant 105-104
12:24 a.m. (Round 10): Brant's activity picks back up to start the 10th round and he's firing the jab. Three punch combination from Brant. Murata looks to answer, but Brant moves away and blocks. Left hook from Brant. A right hand down the middle from Brant and a left hook scrapes across Murata's forehead. Very good round for Brant. Brant 95-95
12:20 a.m. (Round 9) : Murata with a dominant round until a hard right hand from Brant stuns him. Brant pressing the action and landing hard combinations. Brant has found a second wind. Both exchange hard shots. This is a damn good fight and Brant refuses to go away. Brant 85-86
12:16 a.m. (Round 8) : Brant with a combination as Murata continues to try and walk him down. Murata loads up and fires a hard pull counter that lands on Brant. Brant still pumping the jab, but his workrate is way down. Murata is simply landing the harder shots. Murata 77-75
12:12 a.m. (Round 7) : Brant is busy but not landing much. The problem is that Murata isn't throwing much back. He finally lands a hard right cross and a left hoook to the body. He's getting more and more aggressive and probably senses that Brant is wearing down. More Murata shots to the body. Brant is trying to circle away, but Murata is right there. A hard right hand down the middle from Murata. Murata 67-66
12:08 a.m. (Round 6): Murata lands a left to the body, but Brant nails him with a short right hand. Murata isn't hard to find and Brant is taking advantage of those opportunities. Murata finding a home for the right hand to the head. He's the harder puncher, but Brant is willing to fight him off. Murata 57-57
12:04 a.m. (Round 5) : Brant lands a hard 1-2 combination to the head of Murata. Murata keeps coming forward and his presence alone is wearing on Brant. Murata with a hard right hand down the midddle and a firefight breaks out. They are exchanging hard punches. Murata is still coming forward and Bran is doing his best to fight him off. Right hand to the head and a left to the body from Murata. Brant fires back. It's a firefight in there. Hard right hand from Murata. Hell of a round. Murata 47-48
11:59 p.m. (Round 4) : Brant's punches are beginning to come in wide and Murata is shooting the right hand down the middle. He's also placing his left hook to the body well. Each combination from Murata ends with a left hook to the body and it's scoring. It's clear that Murata is fine eating whatever Brant has to offer to get inside and he's had a very successful round. Murata 37-39
11:56 p.m. (Round 3) : Brant seems to have slowed down a bit and Murata is picking up the pace. Murata is sitting down on his punches and lands a left hook while Brant continues to fire off multiple punches. Murata is beginning to land with more frequency and we have a long way to go. Brant's activity picks up another round, but it's evident that he can't keep this up much longer. The tide may be turning. Brant 30-27
11:52 p.m (Round 2) : Brant picks up right where he left off with jabs firing and combinations behind it when the opening presents itself. Brant lands a six-punch combination that catches both flesh and gloves. Murata hasn't quite opened up yet, but is realizing that he needs to fire a jab to disrupt Brant's activity. He's also still smiling. Murata digging to the body to take the wind out of Brant's sails. You have to wonder how long Brant can keep up this pace. Brant 20-18
11:48 p.m. (Round 1) : Brant with a very busy first round. He's working behind the jab and landing uppercuts, but Murata just smiles at him and presses forward. Nothing of substance from Murata as he's simply sizing Brant up for the long haul. Brant 10-9
11:42 p.m.: Rob Brant enters the ring to Childish Gambino's "This Is America" while Ryota Murata enters to something out of a Gladiator film.
Maxim Dadashev remains unbeaten with unanimous decision over Antonio Demarco
11:24 p.m.: It's official. Maxim Dadashev def. Antonio Demarco via unanimous decision. Scores were 97-93, 96-94, 98-92.
11:18 p.m. (Round 10): Nobody knows how the judges have this and the fighters surely don't, either. Demarco continues to try and walk Dadashev down, but Dadashev has sniffed out that approach and keeps his hands busy so Demarco can't load up. Body to head combinations at will by Dadashev as Demarco can't find a home for the big punches. Demarco punches wide down the stretch, but Dadashev picks off every advance with a crisp counter. Sporting News scores the fight for Dadashev 96-94.
11:13 p.m (Round 9) :Dadashev is opening up more and more as the fight goes on. He's landing body and head shots at will and using an effective hook to the body and right hand down the middle to score. His hands are clearly faster and Demarco needs to slow this down or he's in risk of giving the fight away. The level changes are a problem for Demarco. He's not countering or doing much of anything to stop Dadashev from barreling in with these combinations. Dadashev 86-85
11:10 p.m. (Round 8): Dadashev continues to land, but Demarco is clearly the harder puncher and his shots have a sustained effect on Dadashev. Midway through the round, Dadashev peels off a beautiful four- punch combination. It doesn't hurt Demarco, but the judges are seeing this. Demarco is looking for one big home run swing, while Dadashev is looking to score runs with singles and doubles. Dadashev 76-76
11:07 p.m. (Round 7) : Dadashev starts off strong with combinations to the head and body, but that doesn't stop Demarco from pressing forward. The body shots from Dadashev are doing their job, but Demarco lands a shot late that hurts Dadashev and forces him to hold. Prior to that it was all Dadashev. Dadashev 66-67
11:03 p.m. (Round 6): Dadashev turns in an impressive round where he counters Demarco well and doesn't allow him to get off. More rounds like this are necessary for him to get back into the fight. Dadashev 56-58
10:58 p.m. (Round 5): Demarco returns to his aggressive ways and looks to walk down Dadashev. Dadashev is simply not throwing enough punches and gets caught with a hard right hook at the end of the round. Demarco 49-46.
10:54 p.m. (Round 4) : A sustained assault by Demarcco was stopped in its tracks by a right hand from Dadashev. It's becoming more of a dogfight as the rounds progress, but Dadashev is having his moments. It's going to be very interesting to see how the judges score these rounds as Dadashev is the sharper puncher, but lacking the output. Dadashev 37-39
10:50 p.m. (Round 3): Demarco finding some success with his long jab and left hand down the middle, but Dadashev is responding with effective body work. Demarco closes the round strong with a hard right hand that stuns Dadashev and a wicked 1-2 combination to close the round. 30-27 Demarco
10:45 p.m. (Round 2) : Demarco remains the aggressor, but Dadashev is slowly opening up. Closer round to score, but Demarco squeezes it out. Dadashev may be coming on strong. 20-18 Demarco
10:41p.m. (Round 1) : Your typical feeling out round. Demarco was the aggressor early and scored with some jabs. Nothing big just yet. Demarco 10-9
Esquiva Falcao cruises past Guido Pitto
10:20 p.m.: It wasn't exciting, but it surely was effective as Brazil's Esquiva Falcao kept his unbeaten record intact with a clean sweep decision against Guido Pitto. Falcao (22-0, 15 KOs) turned in a blue collar performance and dominated from front to back with the final fight before the broadcast goes live on ESPN+.
Michael Conlan scores seventh-round TKO of Nicola Cipolletta
9:37 p.m. : “When you fight a guy who is negative and trying to survive, those guys are the hardest guys to look good against," Conlan said afterward. "He was just negative. Now, I want real opponents. I want top 10, top 15 opponents. These are the guys who are going to make me look good. These are the guys who are going to bring out the best of my technical ability. When you see guys trying to survive, it’s a lot easier to survive than fight it out.”
9:29 p.m. : Conlan finally captured his prey after chasing him around for seven rounds. A hard right hand and a series of vicious body shots caused referee Russell Mora to pull the plug at the 1:55 mark. Cipolletta protested in the ring by doing one-armed pushups. Uh, dude, use that energy to fight, not run. Maybe it would have been more competitive. Maybe not. Weird.
9:22 p.m. : After five rounds, Cipolletta has been nothing more than a punching bag against Conlan. Although, you have to be curious about Conlan's power as he steps up against elite competition. He's landing some hard shots, but Cipolletta is still here and taking it all on the chin and midsection.
9:10 p.m.: Two rounds in and Conlan is looking quite sharp against Cipolletta. He went the distance for the first time in his professional career in his last outing against Adeilson Dos Santos and it doesn't look like he's trying to repeat that feat.
9 p.m.: 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Michael Conlan is heading to the ring with a small cheering section. Conlan has a ton of potential to be a star and his Irish fans wil certainly give him a boost.
Murata vs. Brant fight card
Winners in bold
- Ryota Murata vs. Rob Brant for Murata's WBO "regular" middleweight title (UD; 118-110, 119-109 & 119-109)
- Maxim Dadashev vs. Antonio DeMarco; junior welterweights (UD; 97-93, 96-94, 98-92)
- Esquiva Falcao vs. Guido Pitto; middleweights (UD; 100-90, 100-90, 100-90)
- Michael Conlan vs. Nicola Cipolletta; featherweights (TKO 7; 1:55)
- Fazliddin Gaibnazarov vs. Wilberth Lopez; junior welterweights (TKO 2; 2:13)
- Adam Lopez vs. Hector Ambriz; featherweights (TKO 8; 1:29)
- Joseph Adorno vs. Kevin Cruz; junior lightweights (UD)
- Vladimir Nikitin vs. Clay Burns; featherweights (UD; 59-55, 59-55, 59-55)
- David Kaminsky vs. Noah La Coste; middleweights (TKO 2; 0:40)
