Gennady Golovkin battles Ryota Murata in a world middleweight unification conflict in Japan today.
There has been such a lot of discuss a potential set of three battle among ‘GGG’ and incredible opponent Canelo Alvarez in September, yet the two contenders have responsibilities to take care of before then, at that point.
That beginnings in Saitama today, where Golovkin protects his IBF and IBO belts against the WBA ‘super’ champion Murata, a gold medalist at the 2012 Olympics in London.
Golovkin has not battled since December 2020, when he beat Kamil Szeremeta inside eight rounds, and that session was his first for over a year. Inertia surely doesn’t help the reason for the one who turned 40 on Friday.
Only five of Golovkin’s 41 expert successes have come on focuses, while 13 of Murata’s 16 triumphs have been by stoppage. That would recommend today’s far-fetched that is battle sees the last ringer.
Murata enjoys home benefit on his side and the Kazakh contender realizes he can’t permit himself to give any thought to another boxing uber battle against Canelo, which looks close to 100% to happen would it be a good idea for him he win this end of the week and the Mexican then, at that point, beat Dmitry Bivol on May 7.
He said: “Murata’s the pride and star of his country. I know the coordinators of this occasion. All that will be top class, and I’m exceptionally eager to be essential for this astonishing occasion.
“He’s an Olympic boss and he’s the present best on the planet holding the WBA title.”
Golovkin vs Murata date, start time, venue and ring walks
Golovkin vs Murata takes place today, Saturday April 9, 2022 at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. The main televised undercard is due to begin at 11am BST, with ring walks for the main event expected at around 2.10pm.
As ever, those times are subject to change, depending on the length of the undercard bouts.
Golovkin vs Murata fight card/undercard in full
- 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
How to watch Golovkin vs Murata
Today’s event is being broadcast live via streaming service DAZN, with a monthly subscription currently costing £7.99 in the UK.
The service can be viewed on smart TVs in addition to other devices such as computers, mobiles, gaming consoles and tablets.
You can also follow all the action on fight night with Standard Sport’s LIVE blog.
Golovkin vs Murata fight prediction
How Golovkin, at the age of 40, can deal with 16 months out of ring looks set to be the defining factor in how this fight plays out.
Murata believes his opponent his past his best – his hopes on Saturday surely rely on that being true.
He said: “Whether GGG is unbeaten or not does not matter. I think he is past his prime.
“How I perform my strong points in the ring will be important.”
Golovkin has dealt with with spells out of the ring before and is too experienced to let talk of a trilogy fight with Canelo distract him from the task on hand.
It promises to be an exciting bout, with both fighters having plenty of knockout victories on their records. Murata has avenged the two defeats in his professional career, but this is a big step up and he could be stopped for the first time in his career.
Golovkin vs Murata weigh-in results
Golovkin and Murata both hit the middleweight limit of 160lbs at yesterday’s weigh-in, with GGG in superb shape on the occasion of his 40th birthday.
Golovkin vs Murata odds
- Golovkin win: 1/8
- Murata win: 4/1
- Draw: 25/1
- Golovkin by decision/technical decision: 11/4
- Golovkin by KO, TKO or DQ: 4/7
- Murata by decision/technical decision: 15/2
- Murata by KO, TKO or DQ: 10/1
