Gennadiy Golovkin will face Ryōta Murata in Japan on April 9 on DAZN as he bids to secure a long-awaited trilogy showdown with P4P king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
‘GGG’ is expected to finally get a third shot at Alvarez in September, assuming he overcomes Murata and Canelo then defeats Dmitry Bivol on May 7.
Golovkin is already signed with the streaming platform, while Canelo inked a reported $100million two-fight deal last week to return to DAZN, starting with Bivol at light-heavyweight and then likely ‘GGG’ at super-middle on September 17.
Golovkin vs Murata finally back on
Middleweight king Golovkin had been scheduled to face Murata in Japan on December 29 last year, but the bout was cancelled due to the Omicron outbreak. Now it finally goes ahead in Saitama on Saturday April 9.
The unification matchup sees Golovkin (41-1-1) put his IBF strap on the line while Murata (16-2) defends his WBA belt.
The COVID pandemic has really affected the careers of many top-level fighters, and Golovkin has only fought once in the last two years - a defeat of Kamil Szeremeta in December 2020. He is delighted to finally be returning to action, given he turns 40 years of age the day before the bout.
He said: "Ryōta Murata is an outstanding champion. I believe that boxing fans from this beautiful country and around the world will see an exciting event. I look forward to getting back in the ring and bringing the Big Drama Show to Japan."
Murata ready for his defining moment
Murata meanwhile knows this is a significant step up in his boxing education, explaining: "I feel that my entire amateur and professional boxing career has been a preparation for this fight against Gennadiy Golovkin.
“This fight will determine my place in the middleweight division and boxing history. Gennadiy 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 a long time 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."
Murata of course is a stepping stone for Golovkin, on the road to that bigger goal of righting those perceived wrongs in a trilogy match vs Canelo. The two men fought in 2017 and 2018 and both bouts had highly controversial outcomes.
The first ended in a draw in September 2017 before Canelo claimed a close decision in the rematch a year later. Golovkin (and many experts) felt he was hard done by on both occasions.
Golovkin vs Murata will be televised live in the UK by DAZN, as well as in 200 other territories around the world.