Photos: Ryota Murata Putting in Work For Blandamura Fight

The World Boxing Association (WBA) "regular" middleweight world champion Ryota Murata of Japan will make the first defense of his crown against Italian challenger Emanuele Felice Blandamura in the main event of a card that will be held on Sunday, the 15th of April at the Yokohama Arena in Kanagawa, Japan. (photos by Naoki Fukuda).

For that reason, Murata (13-1, 10 knockouts) held a public workout at the Gym Teiken, Tokyo, showing good physical condition in the face of this important commitment.

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Before the training session, Murata spoke with the media and talked about his development, and how he will no longer waste energy trying to overwhelm opponents, but will use distance and remain calm, something that was sometimes seen from his second fight with Hassan N'Dam last year.

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Although Murata will not simply seek to overwhelm Blandamura, he will continue to be a pressure fighter, and that will continue to be part of his fight plan, pressing in a polite manner and measuring the distance well.

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Today's training included 2 rounds of training with his regular training partner, Adrián Luna Flores (20-5-1, 13), and Murata looked sharp with his heavy right hand and left hook, particularly used as a counterattack.

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In addition to the fighting, he spent time beating the gloves, boxing in the shade and working on the heavy bag while actually sweating. Throughout the session, Murata was in perfect condition and seemed very confident and relaxed throughout the session. That type of conditioning will be key against the talented, but somewhat fragile, Blandamura.

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