Is the April 9 fight between Gennady Golovkin and Ryota Murata a foregone conclusion – a win for GGG? Not a chance. This is the opinion of seen-it-all, done-it-all Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. Speaking with Fight Hub TV, the Top Rank boss spoke about the fact that Golovkin has “a lot of wear on him.” Arum also pointed to the fact that Triple-G is 40, or thereabouts.
Would it be an upset if the aggressive Japanese warrior defeated Golovkin? Maybe, but such a result would not surprise Arum.
“Murata’s a pretty big-punching guy, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Golovkin lost that fight,” Arum said.
If GGG did lose, this for just the second time in his pro career – Canelo Alvarez currently the only man to have managed to defeat Golovkin, this via close decision in their second fight – he would have to have a major think about what he does next. For one thing, the massive three-match with Canelo would be out of the window (would Canelo look at facing Murata instead?) and for another thing, GGG would be left belt-less with a loss to Murata.
Golovkin, 41-1-1(36) is taking Murata very seriously and he may well see the April 9 fight as a tough night’s work. From a selfish fan perspective, we want GGG to win and win well so we will get that huge final showdown between Golovkin and Canelo in September. Murata, 16-2(13) will be upsetting a lot of plans in this regard if he does get the win next month.
How much has GGG got left in the tank? Have the 16 months of inactivity he has had hurt Golovkin or will the break have aided him? How good is Murata? Will the April 9 fight be a slugfest or will GGG look to outbox Murata? Suddenly, there are a whole lot of question surrounding this fight. April’s boxing schedule is pretty hectic but it just might be that this fight turns out to be one of the absolute highlights of the month.