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IBF, IBO middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin is only a few weeks away from his unification clash with WBA champion Ryota Murata, which takes place on April 9 in Japan.
Should Golovkin win, he will then fall in line for a trilogy grudge match with Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo’ Alvarez. Their third bout will take place in September.
Golovkin and Canelo fought to a controversial twelve round split draw in September 2017. A year later, Canelo won a very close majority decision in their rematch.
Canelo, who is currently the undisputed champion at super middleweight, will head up to light heavyweight to challenge WBA champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7 in Las Vegas. The fight with Golovkin will take place at 168-pounds.
Despite Canelo’s recent statements, Golovkin maintains that he doesn’t have any bad blood with the Mexican star.
“First of all, there’s no bad blood from my side, I’m not taking it personal. But commenting on his approach, he says it’s personal, where has he been after our second fight? For so long, why did he try to accumulate that bad blood? That is kind of unprofessional, too low when a fighter describes his approach to a fight in that way,” Golovkin told The Sun.
Inactive since December 2020, Golovkin will openly discuss the Canelo trilogy once the bout with Murata has concluded.
“It’s premature to have a discussion, there’s too many ‘ifs’. If one fighter beats the other fighter and so on. Let’s wait till May, let’s wait till our fights are behind us, then we can discuss and we’ll have a better understanding of what’s going on,” Golovkin said.
“Of course, I’m always excited to get back in the ring and it’s great that boxing is coming back. The entire approach, the entire tradition of boxing is still alive. I’m also excited that I have enough strength to continue to demonstrate quality boxing to my fans. So you’ll continue to see me in the ring.”