Report: Gennadiy Golovkin, Ryota Murata Agree To December 28 Title Unification Bout

Gennadiy Golovkin’s next fight is all but official.

Golovkin has been slated to face Ryota Murata in a middleweight title unification clash on December 28 for a while now.

However, there was no real progress to making it official. Until now. ESPN’s Mike Coppinger revealed Wednesday that the pair have agreed to the fight.

All that’s needed is for DAZN to sign off for the bout.

“Golovkin is slated to fight Ryota Murata in a middleweight championship unification bout on Dec. 28 in Kobe, Japan, sources tell ESPN. Both sides agreed to the deal and are simply waiting for DAZN to sign off on the bout.”

As for Golovkin’s inactivity? DAZN has a lot to do with it.

“That’s a big reason why GGG has been so inactive: a dispute with the streaming service. After [Canelo] Alvarez sued DAZN last year, GGG became embroiled in a battle with the platform connected to its expectation that Alvarez and Golovkin would fight a third time.”

Golovkin hasn’t competed since a dominant knockout win over Kamil Szeremeta in December 2020. He holds the IBO and IBF middleweight titles.

Murata, meanwhile, hasn’t competed since a fifth-round TKO of Steven Butler in December 2019 to retain his WBA middleweight crown.