Gennadiy Golovkin is back in training camp, and is promising “BIG things” for 2022, starting with a rescheduled middleweight title unification with Ryota Murata likely for April.
Golovkin Tweeted that he’s hoping to have a date for that fight soon. Golovkin vs Murata was meant to happen on New Year’s Eve in Japan but was postponed due to COVID protocols in the country preventing Golovkin from entering.
GGG will turn 40 on April 8, and hasn’t fought since his Dec. 2020 win over Kamil Szeremeta. What was already going to be a long layoff has become an even longer one, but the fight with Murata (16-2, 13 KO) is worth nice money and is a good matchup on paper, one that could be a hell of a battle.
Beyond that, there’s already been talk that Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KO) could finally renew his rivalry with Canelo Alvarez in September, if Canelo chooses a two-fight offer from DAZN and Matchroom for what he’ll be doing this year. That would start with a 175 lb title fight against Dmitry Bivol on May 7, and the second leg would be the third Canelo vs GGG fight in September, for Canelo’s undisputed 168 lb championship.
Canelo and Golovkin fought to a controversial draw in 2017, and then Canelo won a controversial majority decision in their 2018 rematch. DAZN have wanted to do the third fight since signing Golovkin in 2019, but Canelo has shown only fleeting interest in it. This is the closest they’ve come to getting it together, but it’s currently no guarantee.
The important thing for GGG right now is that he’s training, he expects the Murata fight to happen in April, and it seems it will. What comes after that would depend on him winning, so his focus should be there anyway.