Gennady Golovkin vs. Ryōta Murata billed as Big Drama in Japan, is an upcoming middleweight unification professional boxing match contested between IBF and IBO champion, Gennady Golovkin and WBA champion, Ryōta Murata. The bout will take place at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan on April 9, 2022.
Golovkin turns 40 on the day before he meets Murata but remains a major player in the sport. The showdown on Murata’s home turf will unify two of the four major middleweight titles. And if Triple-G wins, as he’s expected to do, a third bout with rival Canelo Alvarez could come on September 17.
Golovkin began his second reign as a 160-pound champion by outpointing Sergey Derevyanchenko for the vacant title in October 2019 and successfully defended it by stopping Kamil Szeremeta in December 2020, his most recent fight. Alvarez is scheduled to challenge light heavyweight titleholder Dmitry Bivol on May 7.
The outcome of that fight might not have a bearing on whether the Mexican star faces Golovkin next. Triple-G and Alvarez fought to a disputed draw in their first fight (2017) and Alvarez won a close decision in the rematch (2018). Of course, if Murata wins on Saturday, he would join the long list of potential opponents for Alvarez.
The 2012 Olympic gold medalist was elevated to WBA “super” champion after Alvarez vacated the title. He last fought in December 2019, when he stopped Steven Butler in five rounds. He will have been out of the ring for more than two years.
GGG vs Murata full card
- Gennady Golovkin vs Ryota Murata
- Junto Nakatani vs Ryota Yamauchi
- Shuichiro Yoshino vs Masayuki Ito
- Kazuki Anaguchi vs Ryuji Yamamoto
- Hiroka Amaki vs Taiga Kato
Golovkin vs Murata event details
- Date: Saturday, April 9
- Time: 5 a.m. ET / 2 a.m. PT
- Where: Super Arena, Saitama, Japan
- Division: Middleweight
- Rounds: 12
- At stake: Golovkin’s IBF and Murata’s WBA titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: Golovkin No. 9