It cost a lot, but Gennady Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KO) finally returns to action this Saturday in Saitama (Japan). The Kazakh, 39 years old (40 this Friday), decided to bet everything in 2021 on one card. In December 2020 he came back and pummeled Szeremeta. He wanted to unify and chose Ryota Murata (16-2, 13 KO), who was the regular WBA middleweight champion and was promoted to absolute champion after the resignation of Canelo Álvarez. Everything was planned for the end of December after negotiations were very long, but a new wave of the pandemic prevented the IBF champion from entering Japan. More than three months have passed since then, but finally Golovkin and Murata will collide.
The duel is that of the unknowns. GGG arrives with an inactivity of more than a year, but the case of the Japanese is more worrying. Murata’s last lawsuit (36 years old) was in December 2019. Too much time and more if you come back in such a complicated bet. Therefore, the main question is in their fitness and the ring rust they may have. Nobody is going to discover Golovkin and the Japanese is a very talented fighter. Despite the fact that in the professional field he has not had any great rivals (the two defeats were against rivals who should not have beaten him), He was Olympic champion in 2012. Big words.
The reading of the lawsuit, therefore, is highly conditioned. The 40 years that Golovkin will be before the fight leave doubts. Will we notice decline? Everything points to no and that he should have a resounding victory over Murata. Everyone bets on it that way, and GGG’s plans are to see each other again against Canelo in September. That will be if Murata lets him. ORn technical boxing and a big punch will be what Golovkin has to deal with. The Kazakh is capable of shortening gaps and sending with his punch. Those are his weapons and they should be worth it, but doubts exist. Gennady must clear them to have the fight that he has been claiming since 2018.