By: Sean Crose

Fans of Gennady Golovkin are going to have to wait a bit longer before their man returns to the ring. The middleweight fighter’s scheduled December 29th bout with fellow titlist Ryoto Murata in Japan has been postponed due to actions of the Japanese government regarding the Covid variant Omicran. In order to protect it’s citizens, Japan has enacted a one month travel ban, which means Golovkin-Ryoto is on ice for the time being. What’s more, the December 31st flyweight title unifier between Jerwin Ancajas and Kazuto Iok, which is also scheduled to go down in Japan, will likely be impacted by these developments, as well.

“I am deeply disappointed that fight in Japan has been postponed but the health and safety of the public must always be the priority. I look forward to returning to the ring against Ryōta as soon as possible,” Golovkin posted on social media early Friday morning. This recent Covid-related development clearly won’t make Murata happy, as the man was about to engage in the biggest fight of his life in his own homeland. There is word via ESPN, however, that the anticipated unification bout will eventually go down in 2022, provided everything goes smoothly during this wildly uncertain time.

The 41-1-1 Golovkin, who is nearly forty years old, hasn’t fought in nearly a year, since he stopped Kamil Szeremeta in the 7th round last December. In fact, the man has only fought three times since his controversial decision loss to Canelo Alvarez back in 2018. Yet, although he’s been relatively quiet in recent years, Golovkin remains a draw. He was once arguably the most feared and avoided man in the fight game, after all. Sure enough, fans are no doubt eager to see if Golovkin’s talents will serve him into the long term, which is sometimes the case these days.

As for Morata, the 16-2 Tokyo resident hasn’t fought since December of 2019, when he stopped Steven Butler in the fifth round. Like, IBF middleweight champion Golovkin, WBA titlist Morata will now simply have to wait it out for the time being. The scheduled match between the two men was supposed to be streamed live on DAZN, and it’s likely a rescheduled bout would be broadcast by the same streaming service, as Golovkin signed a lucrative deal with DAZN a few years back. Along with Golovkin and Murata, Demetrius Andrade and Jermall Charlo, both undefeated, also hold major middleweight titles, making divisional dominance up for grabs.

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