WBA and IBO Middleweight Champion Gennady Golovkin and his noted trainer Abel Sanchez have arrived in Kiev, Ukraine where Golovkin will defend his world title on Saturday, May 12th against Japanese champion Makoto Fuchigami at the Ice Palace “Terminal”. Known for his devastating knockouts and fan friendly style, the undefeated Golovkin sports a record of 22-0-0 with nineteen stoppages while the southpaw Fuchigami, 19-6-0 (10KO’s), enters the twelve round clash with a nine bout-winning streak, eight by knockout.
A native of Kazakhstan and living in Stuttgart, Germany, Golovkin returns to action following a brutal first round knockout of Philadelphia based contender Lajuan Simon on December 9th in Dusseldorf, Germany. Simon had not been previously stopped over his eight-year career, including a twelve round war with then world champion Arthur Abraham and going the distance with Sebastian Sylvester, both in 2009.
Fuchigami, ranked #9 by the WBA, is coming off a tenth round stoppage of Kyung –Suk Kwak on April 9th in Tokyo. Prior to that he won the OPBF Middleweight Title on December 12, 2011 with a ninth round knockout of Koji Sato in Tokyo, his career best victory.. He is the highest rated middleweight from Japan.
While focused on the heavy handed Fuchigami, Golovkin also has his sights set on any of the world title holders from junior middleweight to super middleweight. “I feel comfortable at 160 but I’m willing to go down to 154 or up to 168 to fight the best in the world. There are many big names in all three weight classes and I’m willing to travel anywhere to fight these other champions.”
The World Boxing Association has ordered that current “Super Champion” Felix Sturm and Golovkin must fight by September 30, 2012.
Golovkin won the WBA World Middleweight Title on December 16, 2010 with a third round stoppage of Nilson Julio Tapia in Astana, Kazakhstan. His first defense came in Panama City, Panama against former world champion Kassim Ouma on June 17, 2011 with a tenth round technical knockout.
Also featured on the Saturday, May 12th event is a WBO Junior Middleweight Title bout between Zaurbek Baysangurov and Michel Soro.