By: Sean Crose
For years, he was the boogie man of the middleweight division – a Kazakh terrorist with methodical brutality who disrupted the best league out there. Big names seem to want to avoid him while fans debate whether he is as good as advertised. Then, in the end, Gennady Golovkin had a “great battle”, a high-profile, extremely lucrative competition with the sport’s biggest name besides Floyd Mayweather… Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. The battle ended up being called a draw, although most fans and analysts felt Golovkin won. A year later, the two met again, and this time Canelo took the win from the judges – albeit again controversially.
Then came the gloom. After stopping Steve Rolls in 4th place, Golovkin faced Sergiy Derevyanchenko a few months later. This time, it was Golovkin who won the controversial victory. A year passed and the boxer known as “GGG” finally returned to the ring to fight Kamil Szeremeta at the end of the year of Covid domination in 2020. Since then, the man has not seen any professional action. Moreover, he has entered his forties. Some might say his glory days are behind him, but Golovkin is determined to prove opponents wrong as he steps into the ring this weekend in Japan to face off. against Ryōto Murata in a middleweight unification match.
Murata, the reigning WBA champion is no joke. A fierce fighter who has never faced a man he has never beaten, Murata will also be fighting back in his hometown when he takes on IBF’s prestigious Golovkin this Saturday at the Saitama Super Arena of Japan. Golovkin might be the center of attention here, but he’ll be with a real professional, albeit an unannounced one. In other words, losing to Murata can be sad, but it shouldn’t be an absolute shock. Golovkin has been out of the ring for a while. On top of that, he’s already a middle-aged man today.
With all that said, Golovkin looked skinny and mean as he led through to Saturday. He has good reason to stay motivated, as his win over Murata got him into a third battle with arch-rival Canelo. Some might say the war is over, it’ll be sold by date, and indeed it could – but people would love to see it anyway. The truth is that aside from Floyd Mayweather, Golovkin is the only boxer that actually – and at least – makes money for Canelo.
