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Gennadiy Golovkin: Will father time catch him before a trilogy bout against Canelo Alvarez?

Kazakh fighting superstar Gennady Golovkin will make his long-awaited return to the ring on April 9 as he puts his IBF and IBO middleweight titles on the line against WBA champion Ryota Murata.

The unification bout, originally scheduled for December but postponed due to COVID restrictions in Japan, is now set for the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, with the near 40-year-old Golovkin making his comeback following a seventeen-month absence from the ring.
Billed as Big Drama in Japan, Golovkin (41-1-1) turns 40 one day prior to the scheduled bout and will be hoping for an early birthday present by winning the WBA belt.
Having fought just once since a unanimous decision win against Sergiy Derevyanchenko in October 2019, questions of whether father time has finally caught up with the hard-hitting Kazakh, now in his sixteenth year fighting in the paid ranks, will be asked.

Should GGG answer those questions with a win against the Japanese WBA champion, a third and hotly anticipated bout with Canelo Alvarez will take place come September.

Before all that, though, Golovkin must overcome the unheralded but dangerous Murata in front of a sell-out 37,000 audience at the Saitama Super Arena.
At 36, Murata is no spring chicken himself and also comes into the contest having endured a lengthy absence from the sport, with his last bout coming at the back end of 2019.
Twenty-seven months out of the ring, the Japanese fan favourite revealed his pride in facing the two-time middleweight champion.
Respect on display in Japan

"It is an honour to share the ring with the great champion Gennadiy Golovkin," said Murata. "I am extremely pleased to be part of this historic middleweight title unification fight here in Japan. On April 9, victory will be mine, and Japan will have a unified world middleweight champion."

Golovkin, for his part, expressed relief that the previously postponed bout has now finally been given the go-ahead.
"I am glad that the date has finally been set. I would like to express my gratitude to the organizers from Japan for their hard work and full support of the upcoming unification fight," said Golovkin.
"Ryota Murata is an outstanding champion. I believe that boxing fans from this beautiful country and around the world will see an exciting event. I look forward to getting back in the ring and bringing the Big Drama Show to Japan."
Fight fans would surely agree.
Golovkins's presence in the sport remains very much a welcome one, even as he approaches his 40th birthday with the Kazakh typically remaining good on his promise to deliver the Big Drama Show. Thirty-six knockout victories in 43 bouts tells its own story.

Fighting father time…and Canelo

At 40 years old, Golovkins's reign as king of the middleweights (two hotly disputed decisions against Canelo aside) has been a brilliant one.

Winning his first world title in 2010, the affable Kazakh has captured fans' hearts with his dazzling punching power and respectful and friendly out-of-the-ring personality. The smiling assassin, if you will.
Yet no man is spared the passing of time. While an undoubtedly magnificent champion, the once-beaten Kazakh's best days may well be behind him.
Of course, the great Bernard Hopkins, a long-reigning middleweight champion himself, fought until his 51st birthday while achieving some of his most impressive wins long after turning 40.
Could Golovkin prove to be of another planet, as the "Alien" Hopkins proved to be on so many occasions?
Given his granite chin and relentless punching power, Golovkin may well have more Big Drama Shows to offer the boxing public. Never been stopped or even outboxed, the Kazakh should be expected to get the job done against Murata and, despite his ageing years, remains a serious force in the 160lb weight class.
But what of Canelo?
Since their brilliant fights at the back end of Summers' 17 and' 18 respectively, the Mexican Pound for Pound king has continued to improve, claiming seven successive victories and remarkably, a further eight world titles to add to his burgeoning collection.
GGG, for his part, has fought just three times, picking up the vacant IBF and IBO middleweight titles with that largely unimpressive decision win against Sergiy Derevyanchenko two-and-a-half years ago.
While there can be little doubt that Canelo has upped his game, the question of whether GGG is now in regression must surely be asked. The Murata fight will help to answer some of those questions.
Of course, many fight fans and ringside observers had GGG winning at least the first of those two bouts with Canelo and irrespective of either man's career trajectory, this third and decisive bout is one that has to happen.
However, that nagging feeling that this trilogy is one that should have taken place earlier is hard to shake. Still, it would take a brave man to dismiss the chances of GGG finally claiming that long-since-desired win against the flame-haired Guadalarajan.
Boasting bone-crunching power in both hands, that old adage about the last thing to leave a fighter is his power. Even at 40, GGG hits like a mule and should never be discounted in any bout, even against a fighter as dominant as Alvarez.
Earning the respect of fight fans and boxing scribes across the globe, the likeable Karaganda native and future Hall of Famer's return to the ring is keenly anticipated and should he prove victorious in Japan, September's proposed bout with Canelo could yet prove to be a seismic event and a potential Fight of the Year contender.
First, he must take care of Murata, ideally, in some style and given what's at stake, the ever-green Kazakh should be expected to do it.

Read more: The biggest boxing attendances in history, including Rumble in the Jungle

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