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IBF middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin 41-1-1 (36) wants to put all talk of a trilogy fight with rival and undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 57-1-2 (39) on hold until they have both come through their next fights.
The 39-year-old Kazakh is set to face WBA champion Ryota Murata 16-2 (13) in Japan on April 9 while Alvarez is scheduled to face WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol 19-0 (11) in Las Vegas on May 7.
If both are successful, they are expected to meet in September.
“It’s premature to have a discussion, there’s too many ‘ifs’,” Golovkin told The Sun. “If one fighter beats the other fighter and so on.
“Let’s wait till May, let’s wait till our fights are behind us, then we can discuss and we’ll have a better understanding of what’s going on.”
Japan’s Murata, 36, is a superstar in his home country and promises to present a stern challenge to Golovkin.
“He’s the pride and the star of his country,” Golovkin told The MMA Hour. “I know the organizers of this event. Everything will be top class, and I’m very excited to be a part of this amazing event. He’s an Olympic champion and he’s the current world champion holding the WBA title.”
It won’t be the first time Golovkin has shared a ring with Murata either.
“It did take place but that was a long time ago. It was not the pure sparring approach that he came to spar me. I learned during those sessions that Murata is a very serious fighter with a high boxing IQ,” Golovkin continued.
Golovkin’s former trainer Abel Sanchez, who worked with the power puncher for almost a decade before they split, believes he has seen decline in his former charge.
“Seeing some of the results of the last three or four fights, I don’t believe it was the right choice,” Sanchez said to FightHubTV.
“Not because I’m a supreme coach. But sometimes when you’re doing particular things that are successful, as soon as you change those things, all of a sudden you change the routine and change the things you were doing, and things don’t go so well.
“Not that you’re gonna win [if you stick with what’s proven], but you have to think about your age. One, the opponents that you’re fighting now are just as hungry as you were when you were younger. The punishment you take may affect you later on in life.
“The [Sergiy] Derevyanchenko fight showed me that he wasn’t doing the things necessary to take care of himself. Who cares about anybody else, who cares about the uncle, the brother, the wife. He’s the one who’s going to suffer all these things in the future. Nobody else.
“I don’t want to see him hurt. I just talked to [retired former boxer and world champion] Terry Norris a couple of days ago. I want to see him live a fruitful life, have fun, retire, enjoy his kids to the fullest. I don’t want to see him get hurt.”
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