While Canelo Alvarez is busy signing a nine-figure deal with DAZN, Gennady Golovkin is biding his time and not rushing to schedule a fight since his September 15 loss to Alvarez.
Golovkin's promoter Tom Loeffler spoke with ESPN to give an update on Golovkin's future in the wake of his first pro loss. Loeffler stated that there is multiple names in the running to be Golovkin's next opponent, but one name that could be the favorite to land the big fight would be WBA "regular" middleweight champion Ryota Murata.
Murata will be defending his title against mandatory challenger Rob Brant on an ESPN+ card on October 20 in Las Vegas.
"Murata fights this weekend and he is a very attractive option if he beats Brant. I have a good relationship with Mr. Honda and Top Rank, and that fight seems like it is very makeable. After the Murata fight, if he wins on Saturday, he becomes a very interesting opponent," Loeffler said. "Gennady has always enjoyed fighting internationally. We know what GGG brings to the table and Murata brings monster ratings in Japan and he is very popular. I would say he has distinguished himself as the front-runner if he can win on Saturday night."
The Japanese star had been wanting to get a fight against Golovkin for some time, back to when Golovkin was the WBA "super" middleweight champion. Murata is one of Japan's biggest boxing stars, attracting millions of viewers for each of his fights. One possible location for a potential Golovkin vs. Murata fight would be the Tokyo Dome in spring 2019, which would make this the first boxing event at the venue since James "Buster" Douglas' historic upset win over Mike Tyson in 1990.
Loeffler further reaffirmed that Golovkin will likely not fight until March 2019, but no later than May 2019. The WBC recently ordered Golovkin to fight interim WBC champion Jermall Charlo in a final eliminator for Alvarez's WBC title.
