OLYMPIC Games champion Ryota Murata has turned down a $1 million offer to turn professional.

Murata also has no plans to defend his title at the 2016 Olympics. Instead, he is considering a future away from boxing. The 26-year-old Murata ended Japan’s 48-year wait for an Olympic boxing gold medal by winning the middleweight title in London earlier this month.

He now plans to take an extended break before deciding on his next move. “It’s the end of a chapter for me and boxing,” Murata told the newspaper Nikkan Sports. “Basically I don’t have plans to continue with my career.
“I have already quit once and came back,” said the champion, who briefly left the sport after failing to make the team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

He is also far from enthusiastic about the possibility of going for a second gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, insisting he would rather coach boxers.

“I’m not thinking about a return. There will be new, young boxers in Rio and I won’t be of interest to the media,” said the native of Nara in western Japan.
 – Nampa/Reuters