Gennadiy Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) and Ryota Murata (16-2, 13 KOs) will be meeting in March or April instead of their previously scheduling middleweight unification fight that had been slated for December in Japan.
Murata hasn’t fought in two years and he’s been sitting on his WBA middleweight title without being stripped.
The pandemic has gotten in the way of things, making it necessary to reschedule. Golovkin would like nothing more than to face Canelo Alvarez in a trilogy match, but it looks like the Mexican superstar has lost interest in that match.
Canelo would rather face little-known Ilunga Makabu than fight Golovkin again, and you can understand why. Makabu is easy work, whereas Golovkin is someone that might beat him.
This fight for Golovkin is consuming a huge chunk of the remainder of his career, as he’s been sitting inactive for the last 12 months, waiting on the Murata fight rather than staying busy, fighting three to four times per year like he used to.
When Golovkin finally gets the Murata fight over with, he likely won’t come out ahead of the money he could have made if he’s stayed busy during 2021.
Like Golovkin’s last fight against little-known Kamil Szceremeta, he wanted the fight with Murata, but it might not be worth the time he’s investing in getting it made.
For many fans, they’d much prefer that IBF middleweight champion Golovkin, 39, go in a different direction for his next fight rather than face the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Murata because he’s already been beaten twice since turning pro, and he’s not rated highly.
“Gennady Golovkin, due to fight Murata in December. Checking the boxing schedule, it looks like it’s going to be rescheduled for March or April,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV.
If it were up to the boxing public, they’d like to see Golovkin face WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo or WBO champion Demetrius Andrade.
These are very makeable fights for Golovkin, and his management at Matchroom Boxing.
There wouldn’t be the travel issues that Golovkin has to deal with in needing to go to Japan, as what he’s dealing with for his unification fight with the 35-year-old Murata.
At this point in Golovkin’s career, it’s doubtful that he would fight Andrade or Charlo, even if there weren’t a fight against the twice-beaten Murata that he’s been waiting on all year long and now half of next year.
Murata has losses to Rob Brant and Hassan Ndam, both of which he avenged. The fact that Murata is losing to this level of opposition spells out his limitations as a fighter.
Brant and Ndam would likely be destroyed by Andrade and Charlo, as well as many of the other middleweights. Murata would be out of luck if he had to fight either of those two guys when it came to winning his WBA belt.
Murata hasn’t fought in a long time, since beating little-known contender Steven Butler in December 2019. Only the World Boxing Association knows why they haven’t stripped Murata of his WBA middleweight title.
I mean, Murata hasn’t made a defense in TWO years, and it must be a nightmare for the contenders in the WBA’s top 15, waiting endlessly for a title shot that hasn’t come in the last 2 years.