For a number of months, Gennady Golovkin and Ryota Murata have been looking at fighting one another. Now, as has been reported by multiple sites, with Mike Coppinger breaking the news, the two have “an agreement in principle,” with the fight to take place in Japan on December 28th.
Reportedly, the fight, set for Tokyo, will take place in the evening local time, which is morning in the US.
It could be, then, that this fight gives fight fans a late Christmas present. The styles of the two men should certainly gel very well together and the action should be fun.
Golovkin is the IBF middleweight champ, Murata has a version of the WBA title. There is also talk of GGG and Murata each facing a TBA in the summer.
Murata, 16-2(13) with both defeats – to Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam and Rob Brant – subsequently avenged, is a huge star in his home country of Japan, and in Japan, there is always a big boxing show put on during the Christmas holiday period.
At a time when the boxing schedule is usually pretty thin, the traditional Japanese show is a most welcome treat for hardcore fight fans.
Golovkin, 41-1-1(36) is 39 years old now and we don’t know how much he has left. But against Murata (at age 35 no spring chicken himself), GGG should have no real trouble finding the target, what with Murata being a guy who likes to stand and have a fight.
This one doesn’t figure to come down to speed and reflexes, the fight instead likely to be a slugfest affair, where the guy with the better chin and ability to take the hits gets the win. GGG may have lost a step or two as far as speed and reflexes go, but there is nothing to suggest his chin has deteriorated. This fight might just suit Triple-G fine.
That said, Murata can punch and he will have a huge crowd of vocal and passionate Japanese fans cheering him on. It should be a good, eventful fight while it lasts.
Can GGG still pull the trigger when he sees an opening (and he might see quite a few judging how the aggressive, lay it on the line Murata fights)? Will Murata beat Golovkin to the punch? Is there any way this fight goes all 12 rounds?
GGG can score an impressive-looking KO here, and then, maybe, move into that third clash with Canelo, this armed with two middleweight belts.
Canelo has said, though, that a third fight with GGG will have to be up at 168 pounds. Maybe this third battle will not actually happen. For now, Golovkin has a good, hard fight to look forward to.
