After almost a year absence from the sports, it looks like things are finally set for the return of Gennadiy Golovkin into the boxing ring.
Reports are rife that Golovkin was targeting an end of the year IBF title defense against Japanese Ryota Murata and that seem to be exactly what will happen as ESPN reported that the two fighters have agreed to a December 29th showdown in Saitama, Japan.
Golovkin and Murata had an agreement in principle in place for some time now, but depended on Golovkin coming to terms with DAZN on an amended deal after he originally signed a six-fight contract worth around $100 million back in 2019.
That deal was expected to include a third fight between Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez, which never came to fruition to this point and doesn’t look like happening anytime soon.
Triple G last fought in December 2020, stopping Kamil Szeremeta which marked his third straight win since losing to Canelo in their 2018 rematch.
Murata is most recently coming off a TKO win over Steven Butler in December 2019, meaning he’ll be coming in off a full two-year layoff.