On October 22, 2017, Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam (36-2, 21 KOs), the middleweight WBA (Regular) champion, defends his title against Japanese challenger, Ryōta Murata (12-1, 9 KOs).
Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam is coming in to the fight on a 5-fight win streak with a 55% KO rate; his last fight was a split decision win over Murata, 5 months and 2 days ago. Ryōta Murata is on a 1-fight losing streak with a 69% KO rate, with his last fight being a split decision loss to N'Jikam, 5 months and 2 days ago.
This should be a confident win for Ryōta Murata at 99-1 winning odds. Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam really doesn't have much to present against Murata.
In the rematch, the champion refused to continue the fight in the 7th round, and Ryōta Murata is crowned the new WBA (Regular) middleweight world champion — in his first world-title fight. Murata improves his record to 13-1 (10 KOs), while N'Jikam adds a loss to his record at 36-3.