Although the fight between secondary middleweight world titlist Ryota Murata and mandatory challenger Rob Brant was left for dead two weeks ago, guess what? This is boxing.
The fight roared back to life in recent days, and it’s on. The 160-pounders will meet on Oct. 20 in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card (10:30 p.m. ET), Top Rank and Teiken Boxing, Murata’s co-promoters, and Brant promoter Greg Cohen announced.
Teiken held a news conference in Murata’s hometown of Tokyo on Thursday to formally announce the bout, which will take place in Las Vegas at the 5,200-seat Park Theater at the Park MGM, the renovated resort previously known as the Monte Carlo before the new name became official in May.
Murata, a 2012 Japanese Olympic gold medalist, will be making his second title defense and fighting in the United States for the third time.
“We are delighted to have middleweight champion Ryota Murata fighting at the Park Theater,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “He is one of the leading sports figures in Japan, and his fans will be in for a treat when they watch him in Las Vegas.”
Top Rank and Teiken always intended for Murata to fight in the United States this summer, but the fight with Brant nearly didn’t come off. It appeared dead last week with Murata in a position where he would have had to either give up the belt or risk being stripped if he did not fight Brant.
Top Rank and Teiken declined to participate in the purse bid for the fight, which Brant’s promoter, Greg Cohen, won for $202,114 as the lone bidder. Murata’s team refused to participate because Brant was due to get 50 percent of the money — rather than the usual 30 percent — based on an unusual ruling from the WBA.
In the end, however, the Murata camp didn’t want to vacate the title, and Cohen knew he and Brant would make next to nothing fighting for a vacant title with no broadcast outlet. So Arum and Cohen worked it out.
Murata (14-1, 11 KOs), 32, has fought twice previously in Las Vegas but in lower profile fights. He’s excited to have a title defense there.
“It is the dream of all boxers to headline in Las Vegas, and for me, this is certainly a dream come true,” Murata said. “Rob Brant is an excellent opponent, and I will prepare my best to put on a great performance for all of the fans in Las Vegas and watching on ESPN+. I am only getting started as a world champion.”
Brant (23-1, 16 KOs), 27, of Saint Paul, Minnesota, was the mandatory challenger for the winner of the first fight between Murata and Hassan N’Dam that took place in May 2017. However, when N’Dam won a hugely controversial decision, a rematch was ordered, which pushed back Brant’s title shot.
At the time that the first Murata-N’Dam fight was made, it was done so with the WBA issuing a resolution stating that the winner would have to fight Brant next on a 50-50 split.
While awaiting the fight, Cohen was granted permission by the WBA to enter Brant into the World Boxing Super Series super middleweight tournament. Brant moved up one weight class and lost a lopsided decision to former world titlist Juergen Braehmer in the quarterfinals in October before returning to middleweight for a first-round knockout win over Colby Courter in a stay-busy fight in March.
“I am very excited about my upcoming bout with Ryota Murata. This fight has been on my mind since before he fought Hassan N’Dam,” Brant said. “Though I respect all of his accomplishments, I have always felt as though I have all of the tools to clearly defeat him. Not only has it been a life goal of mine to be a world champion, but also to headline a card in Las Vegas at a major venue. I take none of this lightly. This means the world to me and that will reflect on Oct. 20.”