Looks like we can still see Gennadiy Golovkin fighting this year.



This is the article that says he is going to fight this year.

Gennadiy Golovkin and Ryota Murata agree to December 28th unification in Japan
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Golovkin holds the IBF middleweight title, Murata the WBA


GGG fought last year, so in this scheduled fight if it happen, he will be inactive for over a year.
I hope this is not his last fight, as though is not getting any younger, many are still hoping he would fight Canelo Alvarez one more time.

This reminds me Floyd Mayweather vs Tenshin Nasukawa fight, were Floyd just flew to Japan to have an exhibition fight, that more looks like a sparing. That evening Floyd has earned 9 millions for 2 minute boxing against a kickboxer. GGG fight is going to be the same - it is all about money.

Just make a good show and I won't mind that it's all for money, I mean that's been the thing for boxing for a long time and I think that the money that they get from this, they deserve it as much because they've worked hard to go to the top.

If GGG don't want to have pauses in his career, why don't he pick someone stronger than Murata. He could fight same fighters Canelo has beaten recently. Like Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders or Daniel Jacobs. These guys are on top places in the boxing ratings, while Murata is not in the rating at all.

GGG is still undefeated. I wish they would wipe that "loss" and "no contest" to Canelo off his record.


Mixed martial arts in japan exploded back when Kazushi Sakuraba was in his prime. They hosted events at saitama super arena that consistently drew crowds of around 50,000.

Japan has tried many times to promote another japanese combat sports star into being the next Sakuraba.

They did it with the Tenshin Nasukawa vs Floyd Mayweather "exhibition" fight. I guess they're trying again with Ryota Murata.

It is not only a business thing. Japan's population and birth rates are declining. There could be a concerned segment of the population that wants to encourage japan to be a little more manly. Who views combat sports as a path to accomplish this. Japan could also be threatened by china atm. And so they need to encourage the warrior spirit of their people to prepare for potential future conflicts and wars which could lurk past the horizon.

One of my favorite famous boxers GGG.
He is undefeated and considering a stronger boxer and he is a middleweight champion and ranks #7 on TBRB's pound-for-pound list.
But why his opponent is Murata seems a weak fighter to me challenging on the beast. Good luck Murata.

Not sure if you have seen the second fight between GGG and Canelo. But GGG lost that fight, although it is very controversial result.

I never heard of Murata, probably this is just a get busy fight for GGG, he has a contract and promoters need to honour this one to at least give him one fight a year. In any case, if Murata is coming out of a 2 year hiatus, then I don't expect him to pull an upset against GGG, even if GGG is nearing 40 years old.

^ No one knows for me even though GGG is a good fighter but the chances are 50/50.
Just like what happened in Manny Pacquiao and Yordenis Ugas's fight, we thought that was easy for Pacquiao to fight Ugas but unfortunately, it is a victory for Ugas in the end which he is the underdog. The same on this fight, GGG probably has better odds but we cannot be sure that there is accuracy on the result that he will always win.

You cannot compare GGG to Pacquiao, Pacquiao is so busy in so many things he is mainly into politics, and his last fight prior to the Ugas fight was two years, GGG is a more active one and he won his last fight via knock out, he is still sharp strong and fast, I'm sure that GGG will take care of business, I'm still hoping that he and Canelo will meet again, they deserve each other because of their individual style of fighting.

No, that's a very different case, Manny was supposedly planning to fight Errol Spence Jr, all his preparations are for that kind of fight. However, in the last minute, Spence had an injury and Ugas step up and was a replacement. So they are back to 0 training and preparing for Ugas and I think this is a big factor for a Manny lost.

But in GGG case, if he has an opponent already then all his mental and preparation will be in place so I'm not expecting any upset by Murata.