Boxing News
DAZN Releases Hype Video For Golovkin-Murata In April
DAZN Releases Hype Video For Golovkin-Murata In April
The Unification Middleweight title battle between Gennady Golovkin and Japan’s Ryota Murata is back on officially. And, the broadcaster for the event got everyone revved back up for “Triple G’s” quest to conquer a fighter in the Far East and garner another Middleweight world championship. Also, in the process, Golovkin looks to secure his trilogy bout with Canelo Alvarez for this September.
Here’s what DAZN released on social media, etc. early on Friday morning,
National Heroes Collide 💥@GGGBoxing vs. Murata in Japan 🍿 pic.twitter.com/chUIgPkqO6
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) March 3, 2022
Triple G, 41-1-1 and the former, dominant Unified Middleweight champ of the 2010s will turn 40 in April, as well. Further, he knows his clock is ticking on getting back on the biggest stages with this bout and another looming.
He lost his versions of the Middleweight crown on a tight decision to Canelo in September 2018. But, now he has a chance to get back in front of the fellow future Hall of Famer Alvarez later this year, too.
First, Alvarez was stripped of the IBF portion of the championship in the Summer 2019 for failing to fight Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Golovkin jumped at the chance to a world title back by fighting the Ukrainian #1 contender for the vacant belt later in October of that year.
It was a hard-fought competitive battle that saw Triple G take a lot of punishment, yet still emerge victorious by decision to recapture a portion of the Middleweight crown in a division that he ruled from 2012-18 as WBA champ, then adding WBC, and then, also securing the IBF belt the first time.
Still, there were several prominent analysts and observers that saw that fight and believe that his better days are clearly behind him. Even longtime trainer and boxing analyst Teddy Atlas went so far as to say Golovkin “looked like a shot fighter” that night with the Derevyanchenko.
After the Covid 19 shutdown of the sport for almost 90 days in the Spring of 2020, Triple G finally fought his long-delayed IBF mandatory battle with Poland’s Kamil Szeremeta that December 202 and scored an impressive, if not expected, 7th round KO. He hasn’t been in the ring, again, to this point.
As for Murata, he’s 16-2 as a pro, and won the WBA “regular” Middleweight belt with a second round KO of American Rob Brandt in Osaka, Japan, in July in 2019. He defended the title again by KO over lightly regarded Canadian Steven Butler in late December 2019 in Yokohama, Japan. Murata, who just just turned 36 in January, hasn’t fought since.
So, it’s a two+ year layoff for him headed into this bout. Still, it’s a battle in boxing crazed country against one of the formerly top names “pound for pound” in the sport since 2015.
Meanwhile, the biggest fight “in play” is if GGG can get the win in Japan, he’s agreed to meet Canelo in the trilogy bout for them this September.
A veteran broadcaster of over 25 years, T.J. has been a fight fan longer than that! He’s the host of the “Big Fight Weekend” podcast and will go “toe to toe” with anyone who thinks that Marvin Hagler beat Sugar Ray Leonard or that Tyson, Lennox Lewis or Deontay Wilder could have beaten Ali!