ゴロフキン vs 村田戦 / Gennady Golovkin vs Ryota Murata

さいたまスーパーアリーナで行われた世界ミドル級統一王座決定戦は、40歳のゲンナジー・ゴロフキン選手の右のカウンターストレートを受けた36歳の村田諒太選手が身体を反転させてマットに跪いた直後、セコンドからタオルが投入され、TKOで幕を閉じた。

序盤、予想外の右ボディストレートを織り交ぜて、王者ゴロフキン選手を後退させた村田選手だったが、中盤以降細かいパンチを数多く受け、R7以降は、蓄積したダメージを1分間のインターバルでは回復できない様子だった。

最後の3ラウンドは手数が減って攻めが単調となり、ダッキングやウィービングなどで必死にパンチをかわすも効果は限定的だった。ガードを固めてひたすら堪える姿を見て、カウンターを狙っているのだと思った人もいるかも知れないが、実際は中盤以降にガードをかいくぐるようにふりおろされるゴロフキン選手の左フックを耳の辺りに大量に浴びて、朦朧としていたのだろうと思う。

村田諒太選手はオリンピックの金メダリストであり、とても強い選手だ。しかし、ゲナンジー・ゴロフキン選手の豊富な戦歴に由来する試合運びの巧みさと心身のタフさは、若さに勝る日本人王者の強さを、質的にも量的にも凌駕していた。

ゴロフキン選手のファーストネーム、ゲンナジーは、ロシアの男性名で、 ギリシャ語で「高貴な、名門の、身分が高い」を意味するゲンナディオスの訛だという。まる。

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The unified title match between Gennady Golovkin and Ryota Murata saw a 9R TKO finish when the Kazakh great smashed the Japanese former Olympic gold medalist into the mat with his counter straight shot. A tower was thrown into the ring a second after Murata was on hands and knees.

In the early few rounds Murata set the pace with his unexpected right straight body shot, together with his iconic one-two combination. The Kazakh legend was seen to step back frequently.

But his dominance didn't last long. As the bout unfolded, the Kazakh master landed countless small shots on Murata's face. Murata was gradually robbed of his stamina. Murata's damage was so severe that the one-minute interval didn't look enough for him to recover. Slowly but surely the moment of truth was approaching...

In the last three rounds before the bout ended, Murata remained defensive. He did his best to avoid Golovkin's increasingly persistent attach with ducking and weaving, but their effect appeared limited. To some viewers Murata may have appeared to be looking for an opportunity for a counter shot. But the truth of the matter seems that he wasn't able to do anything because he was so groggy from so many left hook shots that Golovkin landed around Murata's right ear behind his guard.

Murata was a great champion. No question about that. He is an Olympic gold medalist. But Golovkin’s strength was on another level. He was far superior to Murata in terms of the variety of

techniques, mental toughness, and the amount of experience which he can always to resort to in time of need.

Golovkin's first name, Gennady, is a common male name in Russian. It is a phonetic variant of a Greek word meaning "noble."