By: Hans Themistode
With the biggest fight of his life possibly taking place at year’s end, WBA middleweight champion, Ryota Murata, will reportedly begin working the rust off.
As first reported by Chris Mannix, Murata (16-2, 13 KOs) is currently engaged in conversation to take on IBF belt holder Gennadiy Golovkin. The bout would take place in Murata’s hometown of Japan on New Year’s Eve. With their showdown becoming more and more likely, Murata is currently sifting through names for a stay-busy fight in the meantime.
The former Olympic gold medalist was last seen in the ring a year and a half ago against fringe contender Steven Butler, starching him in the fifth round of their showdown. As a contest with Golovkin grows more and more likely, Murata refuses to head into the biggest match of his career with a considerable amount of ring rust.
While no names have officially come to the forefront, Mannix notes that the likely date would be sometime in June.
As for Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs), the future Hall of Famer has also suffered from inactivity as of late. Before his December 18th, pummeling of mandatory challenger, Kamil Szeremeta, Golovkin was absent from the ring for well over a year. At the age of 39, Golovkin is now at the tail end of his career but still receives his fair share of callouts from many of the top names in the division including WBC belt holder Jermall Charlo and WBO titlist, Demetrius Andrade.
Still, even with those previously mentioned names throwing their name into the mix, hoping that Golovkin chooses them as his next opponent, it appears as though the Kazakstan star will head in another direction.
In addition to a showdown with Murata, Golovkin has also had discussions with middleweight contender Jaime Munguia for a showdown that would take place sometime this year as well.
While everything surrounding Golovkin is still a bit unclear at the moment, it appears as though he has his eyes set on two of the more respectable names in the division.