Ryota Murata vs Steven Butler Odds & Picks

• Murata vs Butler goes Monday, December 23rd at 3:55am ET
• Can Murata make a successful defense in front of a partisan crowd?
• Get the odds, our pick, and all the info you need to bet the fight below

Ryota Murata vs Steven Butler will determine the WBA middleweight world champion.

This is one of multiple significant world title bouts slated for this card. The championship tripleheader emanates from Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. This marks only the second time in Butler’s career that he’ll be fighting outside of Canada. He’ll be going to enemy territory while Murata will be received with a hero’s welcome. Both men are known for their fight finishing ability so many boxing enthusiasts are predicting a KO for Christmas. The odd for this title tilt and my analysis of the fight are down below.

Ryota Murata vs Steven Butler Odds

Odds taken Dec. 22.

This belt is a secondary WBA title as Canelo Alvarez is still recognized by The Ring Magazine as the champion for that organization. This is to say that the victor here could potentially position themselves in the future for a fight of tremendous importance. Butler has collected a myriad of belts in his own right having captured the IBO and WBC international belts in the last couple of years. Butler is flying out a couple weeks early to not only get acclimated but also work with physiologists from the 2020 Olympic team. Though Butler is doing his due diligence, I think Murata gets it done.

Murata retains

Murata has a wealth of experience as an amateur competitor. The 2012 Japanese Olympic Gold Medalist has had well over 100 amateur bouts and won the vast majority of them. Though Butler has more pro experience on paper, the experience edge hugely sways in the favor of Murata.

Murata has landed record numbers of power punches in some of his rounds, making history at middleweight. Of Murata’s two career defeats, he has avenged both of them. The most recent bit of redemption came in highlight-reel fashion against Rob Brant. With 64 power punches in a round (the aforementioned history-making performance), Murata got redemption, and regained his hardware in the process.

Ryota Murata with the 2nd round TKO to reclaim the world middleweight title from Rob Brant 😤

Are we in for a trilogy? #BrantMurata2 pic.twitter.com/xyrkoUeSyq

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) July 12, 2019

Brant is likely looking for that trilogy bout at some point in 2020. He will be taking an interim fight in January as Murata vs Butler plays out. He has to power to invoke his rematch clause and get a tiebreaking fight booked. Murata cannot overlook Butler though and preoccupy himself with thoughts of a Brant rubber match. Both men are known for their strong knockout rates. Butler has an 86% KO rate while 80% of Murata’s victories are by way of stoppage. Since his lone career loss, Butler has gone 10-0 with nine stoppage wins through that stretch.

Murata vs Butler Tale of the Tape

Both men will likely have quite an entertaining fight on paper. Their prior track records indicate that they don’t take a backward step and are looking for emphatic stoppage victories. Murata has the edge in terms of having a superior resume.  I think Murata has the experience at this level and stylistically presents a lot of issues for Butler. Murata gets it done via stoppage inside of eight rounds.

Pick: Ryota Murata (-800)