After a difficult start, the Kazakh pulled himself together mid-fight and demonstrated against Murata, the 2012 Olympic vice-champion in London, that he had lost none of his punch, knocking his opponent down in the ninth round before until the referee stops the fight.
His record is now 42 wins (including 37 before the limit), 1 draw and 1 loss.
Kazakh Gennady Golovkin hits Japanese Ryota Murata with a right hook during their middleweight fight for the IBF, IBO and WBA belts on April 9, 2022 in Saitama, north of Tokyo Philip FONG AFP
He is now aiming for a possible third clash against arch-rival Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, 36.
The latter, who in 2021 became the first boxer in history to unify the four categories in super-middleweight, has since moved up to light-heavyweight to challenge the WBA champion in this category, Dmitry Bivol, on May 7.
If the Mexican succeeds again, a third confrontation against Golovkin could take place as early as September, which the Kazakh described as "interesting" on Saturday.
"When an opportunity arises it's always interesting, but Canelo's match is in May and it won't be an easy match," he added, adding: "I think we should wait for the result of this match".
The first Golovkin-Alvarez clash in September 2017 ended in a highly questionable and contested draw, with most observers believing victory should have gone to the Kazakhs by then.
During the reunion between the two champions, in September 2018, Alvarez won on points, by unanimous decision.
This revenge, scheduled a few months earlier, had to be postponed after a positive doping test suffered by Alvarez.
© 2022 AFP