Gennadiy Golovkin vs. Ryota Murata has been postponed due to Japan’s COVID-19 travel restrictions

When Japan announced a temporary travel ban to the country following the emergence of the COVID-19 omicron variant, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before the unification match for the middleweight championship between Gennadiy Golovkin and Ryoto Murata will be dropped from the plan on December 29. date. The official postponement was introduced on Thursday night, and promoters are hoping to reschedule the fight for 2022.

Golovkin confirmed the news, tweet, “I am extremely disappointed that the match in Japan has been postponed but the health and safety of the public must always come first. I look forward to returning to the ring with Ryōta as soon as possible.”

The postponement means that 2021 is officially the first calendar year Golovkin has not fought since turning professional in 2006. The IBF middleweight champion also fought only once in 2020, beating it. Kamil Szeremeta as Szeremeta failed to come out of his corner after the seventh game. ring.

Golovkin will turn 40 in 2022 and the clock is likely to tick quickly on any possible third fight with Canelo Alvarez. Alvarez has gone on to unify all four recognized world titles in the super middleweight and is planning to move into the cruiser weight class in an attempt to win another world title in another weight class. Combined with Golovkin’s delayed fight, fans may never see the trilogy come to fruition.

Murata has also seen his career put on hold in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After fighting twice in 2019, winning the WBA sub-title for the second time in his career and being promoted to world champion outright by sanctioning authority, Murata subsequently did not enter the match in 2020 or 2021.

There is no word on an expected scheduled date for the fight although the intention to hold the fight in Japan means that the situation with COVID and travel will have to be monitored until a new date is possible. securely assigned.