Japan's former world and Olympic boxing champion Ryota Murata announced his retirement, saying he had run out of challenges.
TOKYO - Japan's former world and Olympic boxing champion Ryota Murata announced his retirement, saying he had run out of challenges following his loss last year to Kazakh star Gennady Golovkin.
Murata became Japan's first-ever Olympic middleweight gold medallist at the 2012 London Games before turning professional and capturing the WBA world title at the same weight five years later. He was back in the global spotlight last April when he fought Golovkin in Saitama, north of Tokyo, putting in a strong performance until the man known as"GGG" stopped him in the ninth round."After that, I couldn't really find anything more that I wanted out of boxing," local media quoted the 37-year-old as saying.
His humble, easy-going character won him friends in and out of the ring, and Golovkin presented him with his ring gown following their match as a mark of respect."If you're an athlete, once your dream comes true, you lose your enthusiasm," he said.
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