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IBF middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin 41-1-1 (36) will finally meet WBA counterpart Ryōta Murata 16-2 (13) at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on April 9.
The bout was originally scheduled to take place on December 29 but was postponed when Covid restrictions came into play in Japan preventing foreigners from entering the country.
The 39-year-old Golovkin of Kazakhstan has been linked to a trilogy bout against Mexican superstar and undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 57-1-2 (39) in September, but first he will have to get past the well credentialed Murata.
“I am glad that the date has finally been set. I would like to express my gratitude to the organisers from Japan for their hard work and full support of the upcoming unification fight,” said Golovkin.
“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.”
The 36-year-old Murata won gold at the 2012 London Olympics and has parlayed his amateur success into a quality pro career. A superstar in his homeland, his only losses have been to Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam and Rob Brant, both on points. He avenged both those defeats by knockout in immediate rematches.
“It is an honor to share the ring with the great champion Gennadiy Golovkin,” said Murata. “I am extremely pleased to be part of this historic middleweight title unification fight here in Japan. On April 9th, victory will be mine and Japan will have a unified world middleweight champion.”
Golovkin has bounced back from his Septmber 2018 majority decision loss to Alvarez to claim the vacant IBF 160-pound crown with a close unanimous decision victory over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in October 2019. He has defended the belt once with a seventh-round stoppage of Kamil Szeremeta in December 2020.
When he steps into the ring against Murata, he will have been inactive for 16 months. Murata, however, has not fought since defending his title by fifth-round knockout against Steve Butler in December 2019. It will be interesting to see if either man suffers from ring rust early in the bout.
“We cannot wait to have Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin back on DAZN, facing off against Ryōta Murata for the WBA, IBF, and IBO middleweight world titles,” said Ed Breeze, EVP Rights at DAZN.
“Murata takes a big step up against the middleweight king GGG, who looks to continue his reign in the division after dismantling Szeremeta last time out. This is set to be a brilliant fight and we’re thrilled to have it live on DAZN on April 9th.”
For Golovkin, victory in the fight will give him more leverage to lobby for a third bout with Alvarez. A win for Murata will turn him into a global superstar.
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