Gennadiy Golovkin Vs. Ryota Murata reported on April 9
By: Hans Themistode
Gennadiy Golovkin had a bitter disappointment evident on his face.
The future IBF middleweight champion and Hall of Famer has long hoped to share the ring with middleweight belt holder, Ryota Murata. Originally, the two were scheduled to face off on December 29, 2021, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, Murata’s hometown. However, due to growing concerns around the overall COVID-19 infection rate, Japan introduced travel restrictions to discourage foreigners from visiting, which ultimately pushed the competition of they got to the curb.
Now, with infection rates falling globally, the pair are said to have rescheduled their rally.
As first reported by ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, both Murata and Golovkin have agreed to end April 9. The pair will continue with their original plan to unify middleweight titles at Saitama Arena.
As for Japan’s Murata, he’ll enter the biggest night of his prisoner’s life with what could be a significant amount of rust. The £160 WBA player has spent more than two years on the sidelines. Although he was not active, Murata won his last two competitions through extra time.
As for Golovkin, a victory over Murata was one he desperately wanted for a multitude of reasons. Golovkin not only aspires to regain his unified champion status but more importantly, the win over Murata moves him one step closer to a third matchup against Canelo Alvarez.
Just a few days ago, Golovkin marked his name as part of a lucrative two-man hit deal. The first for the Kazakh heavyweight star, was a date with Murata. If he manages to get a win and rob Murata of the world title in the process, Golovkin will be patiently waiting for Alvarez.
The pound-for-pound star will face off against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol. If Alvarez finds himself at the end of said bout, he will lose weight again to defend his undisputed super-middleweight title against Golovkin.
The two initially swapped punchers in 2017 and 2018 with Golovkin being forced to settle for a split deciding draw and a majority decision loss. With three wins in a row since his first career defeat to Alvarez, Golovkin insists he’s been given a rough deal, even going as far as to say that Alvarez, and those who believe him won in their competitions, is “illusion.”