Gennadiy Golovkin vs. Ryota Murata: Full Card Preview and Prediction

Gennadiy Golovkin and Ryota Murata will fight for the IBF Middleweight Title and the WBA (Super) Middleweight Title on Saturday, April 9, in Saitama, Japan.

The card will also feature a title fight between Junto Nakatani and Ryota Yamauchi for Nakatani's WBO Flyweight belt. The undercard will include Shuichiro Yoshino vs. Masayuki Ito, Kazuki Anaguchi vs. Ryuji Yamamoto, and Hiroka Amaki vs. Taiga Kato.

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Gennadiy Golovkin vs. Ryota Murata preview

Golovkin and Murata were originally scheduled to fight in December 2021 but the fight was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Golovkin will turn 40 years old the day before the fight.

'GGG' holds the IBF Middleweight Title and has a record of 41-1-1 with 36 knockouts. He turned professional in 2006 with an amateur record of 345-5.

After winning the WBA Interim Middleweight Title in 2010, Golovkin started fighting in the United States. He earned a reputation as a devastating finisher after a string of knockouts against opponents such as Curtis Stevens, Matthew Macklin, Marco Antonio Rubio, Willie Monroe Jr., David Lemieux, and Kell Brook. Golovkin's first draw came against Canelo Alvarez in 2017. A rematch in 2018 resulted in his first loss, although both decisions have been regarded as controversial by some.

Murata holds the WBA (Super) Middleweight Title and has a record of 16-2 with 13 knockouts.

Like Golovkin, Murata had a very successful amateur career. He won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The Japanese fighter turned professional in 2013. In 2016, he fought Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam for the vacant WBA Middleweight Title, but lost the fight via split-decision. He stopped N'Dam in a rematch later the same year and claimed his first world title.

Check out GGG vs. Canelo 1 here (courtesy DAZN Boxing):

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Gennadiy Golovkin vs. Ryota Murata prediction

Ryota Murata is coming off a fifth-round TKO victory over Steven Butler of Canada. The fight against Gennadiy Golovkin this weekend will be his first since December 2019.

Gennadiy Golovkin's most recent bout was against Kamil Szeremeta in 2020. Golovkin stopped him in the seventh round after putting him on the canvas four times.

Golovkin is the clear favorite on Saturday. The major question regarding the fighter is his age. With nearly 400 fights to his name over the past 30 years, the boxer has himself acknowledged that his age will eventually catch up to him. However, he currently has eyes on a third fight with Canelo Alveraz later this year.

Prediction: Golovkin via knockout

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Undercard preview

The title fight between Junto Nakatani and Ryota Yamauchi will be Nakatani's second title defense since winning the WBO belt in 2020. Nakatani is consistently ranked among the top-five active flyweights in the world. His record is 22-0 with 17 knockouts. Though Nakatani is expected to win the fight, his opponent has a record of 8-1 with seven knockouts. The fight will likely end in a knockout.

The other undercard bouts are indicated below:

Shuichiro Yoshino vs. Masayuki Ito (lightweight)

Kazuki Anaguchi vs. Ryuji Yamamoto (junior featherweight)

Hiroka Amaki vs. Taiga Kato (welterweight)