Via Jim Calfa: Gennadiy Golovkin’s former coach Abel Sanchez says he needs to make sure Ryota Murata doesn’t make him look bad on Saturday night, April 9 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) has a deal to face Canelo Alvarez on DAZN PPV on September 17, but boxing fans won’t want to watch that bout if GGG is struggling to beat. Murata.
On social media, fans say they ARE NOT wanted to see 40-year-old Golovkin take on superstar Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) for the third time because he looked like a shell of his former self in his last two competitions.
What makes things worse for Golovkin is that he’s been out of the ring for a year and a half, and he could have a problem with 36-year-old IBF middleweight champion Murata.
Golovkin needed an impressive early knockout against Murata, but easier said than done.
“Guaranteed [Ryota Murata] doesn’t make you look bad and people start doubting you,” said Golovkin’s former coach, Abel Sanchez ESPN. “I don’t want to see it to the point where people say he shouldn’t fight [Canelo]. ”
It looks like Sanchez lived in a stick and didn’t have an ear in the ground to hear what boxing fans were saying about Golovkin.
They didn’t want to see him up against Canelo because he didn’t look good against the side opposition he faced. Golovkin’s inactivity and age alone are enough for fans not to want to see him fight Canelo for a third time.
No one wants to see an aging Golovkin beaten up by Canelo worse than what Derevanchenko did to him in 2019.
Murata could take a punch, and Golovkin will need to put himself in jeopardy so he can stop the potential 2012 Olympic gold medalist.
If Golovkin had been younger, it wouldn’t have been a big deal for him to enter the trenches against Murata, exchange shots and kill people. He is now 40 years old and defeated the last time he played against a real opponent in Sergiy Derevyanchenko in October 2019.
You cannot consider Golovkin’s battles against Kamil Szeremeta or Steve Rolls as battles against world-class opposition because they are so flawed.
The reality is that Derevyanchenko is the ONLY genuine candidate Golovkin has faced since 2019, and many fans feel he deserves to lose.
“If he was aggressive on Murata and didn’t take too many shots, you would probably all say he’s ready for Canelo right now,” Sanchez said. “But if he gets hit a lot and it’s going to Round nine or ten, the fact that a guy can carry him for that long will make you doubtful about that game in September,” Sanchez said of Golovkin.
Given Sanchez’s experience in the match, he must doubt whether Golovkin can get through the fight with Murata without incurring significant penalties along the way.
GGG might even lose to the Japanese because he can hit a lot of shots, making this fight a nightmare for him. Derevyanchenko’s plan to play Golovkin was a simple one. Throw multiple punches, and aim for his midsection.
Derevyanchenko delivered 230 punches to Golovkin in that fight, an unprecedented number, especially for someone of only average strength. Golovkin’s face looked swollen at the end of the match, looking more like a loser than a winner.
“All I will say is this inactivity is not my fault,” Golovkin said of his time off the ring.
It doesn’t matter whose fault Golovkin has been out of action since 2020. What’s important is that he’s missed a lot of time, and he will likely be very tired on Saturday night when he gets into the ring. with a younger fighter than Murata.
To be fair, if Golovkin were to fight on par with Derervyanchenko and Szeremeta, he would have lost to Murata.
