The World Boxing Association [WBA] has promoted Olympic gold medal winner Ryota Murata of Japan to the status of "super" champion at middleweight.
The WBA's order came down in connection to a resolution by their Championships Committee, issued on January 5.
Earlier this month, Mexican superstar Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez vacated the WBA's 'super' title at 160-pounds.
Last month, Canelo dominated Callum Smith over twelve rounds to capture the WBC, WBA world titles.
Afterwards, Canelo made it clear that he would never return to 160-pounds.
Murata has been the WBA's "regular" middleweight champion since since July 2019 when he defeated Rob Brant in a rematch. He's one of the most popular fighters in Japan.
This recent change will give Murata the luxury of an extended period of time to make his next mandatory defense. There is no confirmation if Chris Eubank Jr. - who holds the WBA's interim-title - will be elevated to the position of "regular" champion.
"Based on rule C.18, which states that the President and the Championships Committee may recognize a fighter as a super champion under special circumstances, the WBA considers Murata’s career and record as a meritorious circumstance for the appointment," the WBA stated.
"Murata’s appointment will not generate too many changes in the rankings and it is done to give dynamism and activity to the division. The only relevant change is that Murata’s 9-month mandatory defense period will be extended to 18 months."
Murata, who is 34 years old, has a record of 16 wins, 2 losses, and 13 KOs in his professional career.
It remains to be seen who Murata could fight in the weight class. Most of the middleweight names are part of the Premier Boxing Champions banner and fighting on Showtime and FOX. Murata is promoted by Top Rank - which in turn exclusively ties him to ESPN. IBF middleweight Gennadiy Golovkin and WBO champion Demetrius Andrade are also out there - but they are under exclusive deals with streaming service DAZN.
Thoughts?
