WBA "regular" middleweight world champion Hassan N'Dam will have to defend his title after a very controversial title win.
According to a news conference by Teiken Promotions on August 2, N'Dam will face Ryota Murata, the man N'Dam defeated back in May, to win the then-vacant WBA title, in Tokyo on October 22. The controversy stemmed after N'Dam won the title when many in the boxing community felt Murata was robbed of the title. N'Dam won the title via split decision in Murata's native country of Japan (110-117, 116-111, 115-112).
"I want to put on a better performance (than last time), show a stronger me, be better than N'Dam and show what I can do in the future," Murata said at the news conference.
The "regular" title was vacated when Daniel Jacobs decided to challenge for Gennady Golovkin's unified middleweight titles, which includes the WBA "super" middleweight title. After the controversial split decision, the WBA ordered the two of them to have a rematch.
The loss was Murata's first pro defeat. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist had won all 12 of his fights prior to the fight against N'Dam, nine of those wins coming via knockout.
N'Dam is a former WBA interim and WBO interim middleweight. His lone two pro losses came against Peter Quillin and David Lemieux when he challenged for the WBO and IBF titles, respectively.
