Boxing: Murata defends belt for 1st time with 8th-round TKO of Blandamura

Japan's Ryota Murata successfully defended his World Boxing Association middleweight title Sunday night, improving to 14-1 with an eighth-round technical knockout of Italian Emanuele Blandamura.In front of a vocal home crowd at Yokohama Arena, the London Olympic gold medalist became the first Japanese fighter to successfully defend a world championship in the weight class.Murata, 32, took the offensive against his 38-year-old opponent from the opening bell, leading with his left jab while doing most damage with his straight right.With the fight opening up from the sixth round, Murata contin…READ FULL ARTICLE