Gennady Golovkin v Ryoto Murata

[TIC]

unless ggg gets old overnight he ices ryota

[TIC]

[Master]

Gennady Golovkin announces return to the ring after year-long absence

IBO and IBF world champion Golovkin will face Ryota Murata in Japan on his return to the ring at the end of December, as he looks to unify the middleweight division

Gennady Golovkin will return to the ring in a unification bout against Ryota Murata at the end of the year.

The fight has been in the pipeline for a long time but has now been officially confirmed for December 28 in Japan.

Golovkin will bring his 'Big Drama Show' to Murata's home territory with the fight taking place on the border of Tokyo in Saitama.

And the 39-year-old is hoping to add another belt to his collection with the possibility of a potential trilogy match against Canelo Alvarez looming.

"I am really excited to be bringing the Big Drama Show to Japan, a country where boxing is very popular," said Golovkin. "Ryōta Murata has been an outstanding champion.

"It is going to be a special night when we meet in the ring to unify our titles. We are going to give the fans a great fight.

Golovkin's last ring outing came back in December last year when he defeated Kamil Szeremeta comfortably, dropping his opponent four times before his seventh round retirement.

The Kazakh fighter only has one blotch on his record after losing in a historic rematch with Alvarez.

An explosive first meeting was touted as a modern-era classic after the middleweight champion was left frustrated, being held to a controversial draw in 2017.

And the second meeting ended in another close decision with the pound-for-pound king gaining the narrow nod over Golovkin by majority decision with the Kazakh fighter forced to regroup.

He has since began another win streak, defeating Steve Rolls before reclaiming world champion status by dethroning Sergiy Derevyanchenko.

But his latest test will come against a relatively untested opponent who has already suffered two defeats during his 18-fight career.

Who wins on December 29- Gennady Golovkin or Ryota Murata? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below.

Although the Japanese fighter is ready to take control of the fight and believes he has prepared his whole life to face Golovkin.

"I feel that my entire amateur and professional boxing career has been a preparation for this fight against Gennady Golovkin. This fight will determine my place in the middleweight division and boxing history," said Murata.


"Gennady Golovkin has long been the standard-bearer of the middleweight division. To me, he is still undefeated.

"I have the highest respect for him. It has been almost two years since my last fight, because of the pandemic, but I have put that time to good use, working very hard with my trainers on improving my physical conditioning and adding more power to my punches.

"I am so proud Japan is hosting this fight. It is a great honour for me."

Eddie Hearn is set to offer the possibility of facing Golovkin next to Alvarez who has just become undisputed champion at 168lbs after defeating Caleb Plant.

However the Mexican could opt to switch back to light-heavyweight with Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol keen to challenge the pound-for-pound leading fighter.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxin...urata-25446229

[X]

Golovkin has had a great career, but he must still feel shortchanged. Coming up, he was avoided by everybody for years and years. He was the best middleweight in the world for ages before he was actually recognised as such.

He then gets completely robbed by the judges (at least once, possibly twice). Then get gets frozen out all over again until he is ancient.

[imp]

No Ward, No Charlo, No 168.

Now he is just waiting for the trilogy.

He did beat a tiny Kell Brook though..

Did he ever unify a division?

Are we going to ignore the missed potential?

[Master]

Gennady Golovkin's £100m world title defence under threat due to new Covid rules

Golovkin could lose out on his latest unification bid against Ryota Murata, after Japan announced the suspension of foreign visitors from the end of the month

Gennady Golovkin may not be permitted to enter Japan for his world title unification against Ryota Murata due to the latest suspension of foreign visitors.

The fight, worth a reported £100million, is considered the biggest in Japanese history and was set to take place on December 28 on the border of Tokyo in Saitama.

Golovkin has been out of action since his routine victory over Kamil Szeremeta at the end of the last year.

He could now face missing out on a huge payday with his latest tilt thrown into doubt after Japan employed their latest coronavirus restrictions to limit inbound foreign travel.

Chairman of the Teiken Boxing Gym Akihiko Honda is planning to clarify the situation with the Japanese sports agency and is awaiting a decision on the status of the bout.

"I am prepared to change the situation in this way," Honda said. "I think it will come out, so I will keep an eye on it.

"This match is the biggest match in the history of Japanese boxing with a total budget of over 15 billion yen. If Golovkin is positive in the test the day before the game, we can't play the game.

"We are prepared for such a risk. However, it is a sudden matter for the Japan Sports Agency, and nothing has been decided yet.

"We are in close contact with the Japan Sports Agency, and have submitted all the plans and documents necessary for the match to be completed, such as the entry of the Golovkin camp and related parties, and the subsequent quarantine.

""I hope that if you [Golovkin] complete the application before this talk, you will be able to enter the country."

Golovkin is looking to reconquer the middleweight division after losing his belts to pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez back in 2018.

Their previous meeting in 2017 was deemed unfortunate for Golovkin, who was expected to be pronounced the winner before being held to a draw.

Several other options are available for Golovkin including a middleweight defence against British star Chris Eubank Jr who has been awaiting a title shot since his middleweight return.

But a showdown any time soon seems unlikely with the Briton set to face domestic rival Liam Williams in a rescheduled clash in January.

Golovkin is also being considered as an option for rival Alvarez's return in a historic trilogy bout next year.

But the 39-year-old has admitted he will not make any weight switch to pursue the Mexican without a concrete offer on the table.

"This fight is possible," Golovkin told Sky Sports. "Theoretically nothing has changed.

"There are certain questions which have been posed. They are still open, they remain unanswered.

"We have been discussing it but haven't moved towards this fight for quite some time. We fought, I know who he is. I don't think about him at all, It isn't something I don't give any thought to.

"I don't want to entertain moving to a different division unless there is an offer on the table."

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxin...title-25581521

[ykdadamaja]

Canelo can't roid down back to MW anymore. GGG may as well forget it unless he wants to follow Canelo to Cruiserweight.

[Ron Swanson]

No Ward, No Charlo, No 168.

Now he is just waiting for the trilogy.

He did beat a tiny Kell Brook though..

Did he ever unify a division?

Are we going to ignore the missed potential?

People just ignore all the people he straight refused to fight. It’s pathetic how they twist it

[Spicoli]

I might be rooting for a draw here . If only to see Canelos cushy cash grab contract implode. Or Golovkin caves Murata in (more than likely) and defends. I love Golovkin nothing but respect but this still requires him to literally follow Canelo up..who will be coming off another 175 v Bivol . And at what CW will this be. Should Canelo um win of course. I get it..nothing sells like a true rivalry and familiarity to fans. But the honest truth is these two have gone in opposite directions over the last 4 years.

[Ron Swanson]

Golovkin has had a great career, but he must still feel shortchanged. Coming up, he was avoided by everybody for years and years. He was the best middleweight in the world for ages before he was actually recognised as such.

He then gets completely robbed by the judges (at least once, possibly twice). Then get gets frozen out all over again until he is ancient.

Interesting fan fiction. He was offered tons of better fights he refused. He was even stripped because he chose to fight a guy coming off 2 losses and a retirement rather than his mandatory FFS. He hid from Ward, “we will never fight Charlo” can go on and on.

Dude has nobody to blame for the horrible names on his CV but himself