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We love knockouts. Anyone who has followed this series over the last year or so will know that we really love knockouts, seeing them, watching then, replaying them and sharing them. Sadly we need to admit some fighters best KO's aren't their most seen, most watch or most well known. With that in mind this week we want to look one of the less well known KO's by a Kazakh star. This came before the fighter in question became a global star, but is a great sign of what we would later see on a bigger stage! Gennady Golovkin (21-0, 18) vs Lajuan Simon (23-3-2, 12) In one corner was "GGG" Gennady Golovkin, a man we would come to all enjoy watching fight. This however wasn't the Golovkin who was ripping up the Middleweight division in the US. Instead this was the Golovkin chasing an opportunity, fighting almost in the depths of boxing a long, long way from the glitz and glamour of Madison Square Garden. This was a 2011 Golovkin. A Golovkin who's biggest win up to this point was against Kassim Ouma. He was a man being avoided in Europe and ignored in the US. In the opposite corner was the tough, but past his best, Lujuan Simon. The American, who was 32 at this point, had never been stopped but had come up short against the likes Arthur Abrahama and Sebastian Sylvester and Dionisio Miranda. He was rugged, had a bit of name value, but was known as being a step below that of a genuine world class fighter. Coming in to the bout Golovkin has amassed 18 KO's in 21 bouts. He had stopped his previous 8 in a row and was typically doing so in a round or two. What few would have expected was that he would do the same here against a man who had taken Abraham the distance. The expectation was that Golovkin would win. Of course he would. But that he would be taken rounds. The thought process was that as long as he had a better result than Abraham he'd be able to put pressure on some fighters for an opportunity, and stop fighting the likes of Milton Nunez and Nilson Julio Tapia. Golovkin however wanted to prove a point and with just over 2 minutes of the opening round gone Golovkin found a gap for a left hook up top. It landed clean as a whistle as he pivoted and caught Simon perfectly as he came in himself. It was a blink and you miss it shot, but it was perfect. Simon instantly crashed to the canvas, where he lay motionless for a moment before trying to sit up. He had no idea where he was or how his body worked for a few seconds, as the referee gave Simon the 10 count. This was a KO that got some buzz in Europe, Boxnation showing the bout in the UK, but sadly it was another 9 months before Golovkin made his US debut, prior to which he had another pointless and easy win over the over-matched Makoto Fuchigami. Whilst we all know that Golovkin would go on to become a star in the years that followed this win Simon actually fought once more, almost 2 years later, and was stopped by J'Leon Love in 6 rounds, before retiring.
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Last time out in "Reliving the Finish" we covered a bout between two debutants in Korea, this time we go a little bit more high profile as we look at a world title bout in Monaco featuring one of the biggest names in the sport over the last 10 years and a popular challenger. The bout certainly not the biggest or most notable bout every, but it was certainly a fight with some international attention and appeal, and one that had media interest from around the boxing world. Gennady Golovkin (25-0, 22) vs Nobuhiro Ishida (24-8-2, 9) In March 2013 Kazakh destroyer Gennady Golovkin faced off with Japanese veteran Nobuhiro Ishida in Monte Carlo. At the time Golovkin was the WBA "regular" and IBO Middleweight champion and was carving out a growing reputation on the global scene as a dangerous boxer-puncher. He had made his US debut the previous September, stopping Grzegorz Proksa and had then beaten Gabriel Rosado into submission in January, also in the US. Following those wins US TV were getting behind him, but he wasn't just fighting in the US as he looked to keep one of the busier schedules of any world champion in the sport. As one of his non-US bouts Golovkin travelled to Monaco, something he ended up doing again in 2014 and 2015. In the opposite corner to the hard hitting Kazakh was Ishida, a man best known for his monstrous upset win over James Kirkland in 2011. Sadly since the win over Kirkland Ishida had failed to build on his momentum, but had enough value in is name to face both Paul Williams and the then WBO Middleweight champion Dmitry Pirog in 2012, losing both bouts by decision. Despite those losses Ishida had proven he was tough, he was durable and the hoipe was that he would extend Golovkin, who had stopped 12 opponents in a row. Obviously that didn't happen. The first two rounds had seen Golovkin out box, out speed and out skill Ishida, but he showed the Japanese fighter a lot of respect. He backed off in the first round, picked his shots and scouted Ishida, getting a read on the Japanese fighter. Golovkin put his on the gas in round 2, but Ishida was still holding his own never looked in any real trouble. That was until round 3. In round 3 Golovkin moved up another gear. He was letting his hands go more and putting more on his shots. Gone were the jabs at range, replaced by uppercuts and hooks up close. Just over 2 minutes into the round Golovkin landed a brutal right hand as Ishida was going backwards. Usually going backwards would have taken something off the impact, but here it did little. Ishida fell backwards, like he'd been clobbered by a baseball bat, and his backwards momentum sent him partly through the bottom two ropes. His legs in the ring, his upper body outside of it. Immediately the bout was waved off. It was a wonderful sight, and a slightly scary one until Ishida regained his bearings. In the years that followed this bout Golovkin would go on to become one of the biggest names in the sport, landing a string of big fights and adding the WBC and IBF titles to his collection. Ishida on the other hand returned to Japan and had a run at the Japanese Heavyweight, losing a close decision before retiring to set up his own gym in Neyagawa, Osaka.
We've all heard of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and we've decided to put our spin on things with "Six degrees of separation" looking to connect Asian fighters you may never have assumed were connected! Today we connect Kazakh Middle star Gennady Golovkin to former Japanese world champion Takashi Uchiyama.
Just as ground rules, we're not doing the more basic "A beat B who beat C who beat D" type of thing, but instead we want to link fighters in different ways. As a result we will limit A fought B connections, and try to get more varied connections together, as you'll see here! We also know there are often shorter routes to connect fighters, but that's not always the most interesting way to connect them. 1-On May 6th 2006 Gennady Golovkin made his professional debut, beating Gabor Balogh inside a round in Dusseldorf. On the very same day Eagle Den Junlaphan retained the WBC Minimumweight title with a unanimous decision over Filipino challenger Rodel Mayol, over in Tokyo, to record his second defense of his second reign. 2-The talented Japanese based Thai born Eagle Den Junlaphan would go on to successfully make 2 more defenses of the WBC Minimumweight title after his win over Rodel Mayol. He then lost the belt in 2007 when he travelled over to Thailand to take on Oleydong Sithsamerchai in the 8th world title bout between two Thai's, otherwise known as a "Bloodline Battle". 3-Following his WBC title win Oleydong Sithsamerchai went on to make 6 successful defenses, which at the time put him third for the most defenses of the WBC Minimumweight title behind Ricardo Lopez and Jose Antonio Aguirre. Included in those 6 defenses was a draw against Pornsawan Popramook in 2010. This meant he was only the third WBC Minimumweight champion to retain with a draw, the first was Hirioki Ioka in 1988. 4-Japan's Hiroki Ioka is well known for being a 2-weight world champion, the youngest world champion in Japanese boxing history, the final student Eddie Townsend and the uncle of Kazuto Ioka. He was a genuinely big deal in the 1980's and 1990's. Interestingly his final bout came on December 19th 1998, that was the same day Floyd Mayweather Jr beat Angel Manfredy to record his first defense of the WBC Super Featherweight title. 5-At the 1996 Olympics Floyd Mayweather Jr won an Olympic bronze medal at Featherweight, losing in his semi-final to Serafim Todorov. The eventual gold medal winner in the division was Thailand's Kamsing Somluck, who defeated Todorov 8-5 in the final. 6-It wasn't just the Olympics that Kamsing Somluck had success at but he was actually a really,really successful amateur, winning medals across various international competitions and tournaments. Included in those was the 2002 King's Cup in Bangkok. On route to that win win Kamsing beat future WBA Super Featherweight champion Takashi Uchiyama in the semi-final! We've all heard of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and we've decided to put our spin on things with "Six degrees of separation" looking to connect Asian fighters you may never have assumed were connected! Today we connect former Korean world title contender Seung Soon Lee to Kazakh legend Gennady Golokvin.
Just as ground rules, we're not doing the more basic "A beat B who beat C who beat D" type of thing, but instead we want to link fighters in different ways. As a result we will limit A fought B connections, and try to get more varied connections together, as you'll see here! We also know there are often shorter routes to connect fighters, but that's not always the most interesting way to connect them. 1-Although never a world beater Seung Soon Lee did have have genuine success on the domestic and regional scene, before his ill fated 1989 bout against Mark Breland for the WBA Welterweight title. The most noteworthy of his achievements was winning the OPBF Welterweight title in 1987, beating Jun Suk Hwang for the belt. 2-Despite losing the OPBF title to Lee in 1987 it's fair to say that Jun Suk Hwang had a decent reign with the title, running up 13 defenses of the title before losing it. During his reign he also dipped his toes at 154lbs, challenging In Chul Baek on October 18th 1986. 3-The hard hitting In Chul Baek is one of the true legends of Korean boxing. He's best known for his reign as the WBA Super Middleweight reign, from 1989 to 1990, but before that world title reign he had left a wave of destruction behind with 26 straight T/KO wins to begin his career, as well as 2 reigns as the OPBF Light Middleweight champion. The only other fighter to hold that title twice, at the time of writing, was Japanese based American Carlos Elliot. 4-Sadly Carlos Elliot has been often forgotten in recent years but is a former Japanese Light Middleweight champion and a 2-time OPBF champion who ran up a very impressive 26-3 (22) record fighting almost his entire career on Japanese soil. A fighter who did things very, very similarly was Mark Horikoshi, who turned professional in Japan and made his name there rather, rather than in the land of his birth. 5-In Japanese boxing Mark Horikoshi is best known for his 1989 instant classic with the hugely popular Naoto Takahashi, which is often regarded as one of the greatest bouts to ever take place at Korakuen Hall. The bout was a thrilling battle from the off, with both men regularly being hurt, rocked, and looking on the verge of being stopped. The bout saw Takahashi claiming the Japanese Super Bantamweight title with a 9th round stoppage. This would be Horikoshi's final bout in Japan before he began to box in the US, making his US debut on May 15th 1989, the same day that Shinji Takehara made his professional debut, back in Tokyo. 6-The hard hitting Shinji Takehara would go on to have a remarkable career winning the WBA Middleweight title in 1995, becoming the first Japanese fighter to win a Middleweight world title. Takehara's reign was a short one, sadly, and he lost the belt in his first defense. Amazingly it would take until Gennady Golovkin, around 15 years later, for Asia to have another Middleweight world champion, with Golovkin first winning the WBA title that Takehara had held in the 1990's! We've all heard of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and we've decided to put our spin on things with "Six degrees of separation" looking to connect Asian fighters you may never have assumed were connected! Today we connect modern day Middleweight great Gennady Golovkin to Toshiaki Nishioka. Just as ground rules, we're not doing the more basic "A beat B who beat C who beat D" type of thing, but instead we want to link fighters in different ways. As a result we will limit A fought B connections, and try to get more varied connections together, as you'll see here! We also know there are often shorter routes to connect fighters, but that's not always the most interesting way to connect them. 1-We all know what the hard hitting Gennady Golovkin has done in recent years, becoming one of the most notable fighters of his era. Whilst he was well known as an amateur it's worth noting that he made his debut on May 6th 2006. On that very same day Japanese based Thai Den Junlaphan successfully defended the WBC Minimumweight title, defending the belt against Rodel Mayol. 2-Although he was from Thailand Den Junlaphan spent much of his career in Thailand, fighting out of the Kadoebi Gym. Another fighter who fought out of the same gym was the hard hitting, multi-time world title challenger Hiroyuki Sakamoto. 3-Although Hiroyuki Sakamoto failed to win a world title he did fight several times in bouts at the highest level. One of those world title bouts saw Sakamoto take on fellow Japanese fighter Takanori Hatakeyama, in what was a brilliant match up that sadly ruined Sakamoto, who was never quite the same after this bout. 4-Former 2-weight world champion Takanori Hatakeyama was a brilliant fighter to watch, one of the most fan friendly fighters of his era and was in so many great fights. His debut came on June 17th 1993. That was the same day that Rustico Torrecampo scored his first professional win, defeating Manuel Andales. 5-Although not a very notable fighter Rustico Torrecampo is best known for his 1996 win over Manny Pacquiao, the first loss on Pacquiao's record. Pacquiao's cherry wasn't the only one Torrecampo popped, with another being the less well remembered Reynante Rojo, who was then 20-0. 6-Whilst a pretty obscure fighter Reynante Rojo did face some pretty big names, one of which was future WBA Light Flyweight champion Sompoch Harnvichachai whilst another was future WBC Super Bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka.  We've all heard of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and we've decided to put our spin on things with "Six degrees of separation" looking to connect Asian fighters you may never have assumed were connected! Today we connect the legendary Ki Soo Kim to Gennady Golovkin. Just as ground rules, we're not doing the more basic "A beat B who beat C who beat D" type of thing, but instead we want to link fighters in different ways. As a result we will limit A fought B connections, and try to get more varied connections together, as you'll see here! We also know there are often shorter routes to connect fighters, but that's not always the most interesting way to connect them. 1-Korean great Ki Soo Kim was the first professional fighter from Korea to win a world title, holding the WBC and WBA Middleweight titles from June 1966 to May 1968, defending the belts twice. As well as holding his Middleweight titles he also held the OPBF Middleweight title, which he recorded 5 times. Another fighter who defended that OPBF title 5 times was Akio Shibata, who did so over 40 years after Kim's reign. 2-Whilst Akio Shibata isn't too well known in the West, where he's probably best known for being the debut opponent of Ryota Murata. On the day Shibata debuted, August 29th 2003, former world champion Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym scored his 30th, and final, career win, defeating Ricky Gozo with a 6 round win. In his only follow up bouts Sornpichai lost to Magbau Pathy and Jun Toriumi. 3-Whilst Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym was pretty much shot to pieces by 2003 he had made his name a few years earlier when he stopped Leo Gamez to become the WBA Flyweight champion. As a champion Sornpichai managed just a single successful defense, that was the same as Korean champion Tae Shik Kim back in 1980. 4-Korean fighter Taek Shik Kim might not have had a long reign as the WBA Flyweight champion but those who watched his debut were probably never expecting him to win a world title. That was because he got stopped on his debut, back in 1977, before rebuilding to take the WBA Flyweight title from Luis Ibarra. His actual result on debut was a KO3 loss to Kee Bong Koh. Another future world champion who was stopped in 3 rounds on debut was Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, who was stopped in 3 rounds by Akira Yaegashi on his debut. 5-Hard hitting Thai Srisaket Sor Rungvisai may not have started his career too well, going 1-3-1, but turned it around amazingly to become a 2-time WBC Super Flyweight champion. The second of those reigns came when Srisaket shocked the boxing world and beat the previously unbeaten Roman Gonzalez, originally taking a decision over the Nicaraguan great before stopping him in a rematch. 6-During some of his later career bouts Roman Gonzalez was just headlining "Super Fly" cards. Prior to that he was essentially introduced to an American audience by being partnered up with Kazakh Middleweight star Gennady Golovkin.  (Photo - si.com)
The Middleweight division isn't one that we immediately think of when we think of Asian boxers, but it's a surprisingly interesting one right now, thanks in a big part due to the recent surge of Central Asian fighters making their mark on the sport. With that in mind this is actually a really interesting top 10 mixed with some nice match ups as well as some solid fighters of notes.
1-Gennady Golovkin (40-1-1, 35) Like many we believe the 38 year old Gennady Golovkin might be heading towards the end of his days as an active fighter, but the reality is that he is, still, one of the very best Middleweights on the planet. The iron chinned and rock fisted Kazakh was given a hell of a test last October, against Sergey Derevyanchenko, and is expected to make a mandatory of his IBF title later in the year. Although not the force he once was there's not many fighters in the division that would be expected to give "GGG" a real test. Time is ticking on Golovkin's career, but with wins against some of the best Middleweights from the last decade it's hard to argue anyone should 2-Ryota Murata (16-2, 13) Another fighter with rocks for hands and an iron jaw is Ryota Murata, the WBA "regular" champion. The 34 year old from Japan is a legitimate star in the Land of the Rising sun and draws huge audiences to see him in action. Since winning a Gold medal at the 2012 Olympics Murata has been one of the most marketable stars in the sport, and the hope of him headlining a major Dome show in Japan seemed to be on the verge of happening. Sadly however with global situation that now looks to be little more than a pipe dream. Murata, like Golovkin, is probably on the back end of his career, but he's not had the long damaging career that Golovkin has had and may well have another few years left in the sport, if he wants them. 3-Janibek Alimkhanuly (8-0, 4) Confident, skilled and still only 27 years old Janibek Alimkhanuly looks like the natural successor to Gennady Golovkin for Kazakh fans wanting a Middleweight to get behind. The talented Alimkhanuly has called out the likes of Demetrius Andrade and has made it clear he wants to be facing the best in the world. Although not a destructive puncher Alimkhanuly has looked to be sitting on his punches more in recent bouts and has started to polish off his style which was once looking a bit too amateurish. He's a long way behind the two men ranked above him, but has shown a lot of promise already. 4-Meiirim Nursultanov (13-0, 8) Another Kazakh fighter worthy of some attention is Meiirim Nursultanov, a 26 year old who has been quietly making a name for himself without too much fuss. The US based Kazakh is managed by Egis Klimas and was busy in 2019, with 4 bouts. Given his competition seems to be improving fight by fight he's certainly someone we expected to be tested properly in the near future. Sadly though he appears to lack championship level power and will need to rely on his boxing skills more than his power. 5-Kazuto Takesako (12-0-1, 11) It might seem hard to believe that there's two Japanese Middleweights in the top 5 for Asia but it's a surprising time in boxing and Kazuto Takesako is certainly in in and around the middle of the top 10. So far the hard hitting Takesako has has looked devastating on the domestic scene, and has unified the Japanese and OPBF titles. Although not the most polished fighter out there he's strong, aggressive, takes a shot and has very heavy, thudding shots. Wins over the likes of Shuji Kato, Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa, Sanosuke Sasaki and Hikaru Nishida has made him the clear #2 in Japan behind Murata 6-Kanat Islam (27-0, 21) One tipped as a big hopeful for Kazakh boxing Kanat Islam's career has really come to a screeching halt in recent years. In September 2017 he looked on the verge of something big after stopping the then 18-0 Brandon Cook but since then injuries and inactivity have been a major problem for "Qazaq". Islam was a really talented boxer-puncher at Light Middleweight but at Middleweight last time out against Walter Kautondokwa he looked poor, and like he really wasn't suitable for the 160lb weight class. That bout was full of controversy, with Islam being injured and hurt multiple times layer on. At 35 we don't see Islam getting any more suited to the weight and suspect the move up will turn out to be a bad one. 7-Yuki Nonaka (34-10-3, 10) At the age of 42 Japanese Southpaw may end up being the oldest man on any of these ranking lists, but the WBO Asia Pacific champion is certainly here on merit. Nonaka, a talented Osakan, first made his name at Light Middleweight, where he won the Japanese and OPBF titles, then made a mark at Middleweight, winning the OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific titles. Nonaka is very much a throwback type of fighter, who has done things the hard way, faced a true regional who's who, and has managed to some of his best performances the wrong side of 40. His time is clearly coming to an end, and he didn't look good last time out against Hyun Min Yang, but there's still very few Asian fighters we would back against him. 8-Hurshidbek Normatov (10-0, 3) The unbeaten Hurshidbek Normatov is a 28 year old Uzbek who hasn't had the attention many of his countrymen have had. Instead he's been quietly going about things and has notched noteworthy wins against Nicklaus Flaz, Walter Wright and Uriel Hernandez. There is still very much a "jury's out" feeling to Normatov, who clearly needs to be matched tougher than he has been, but there is real potential there and he has some freakish intangibles. Stood at 6'2" and fighting out of the southpaw stance he has two things that can make him a very awkward man to beat, though a lack of power may be a downfall when he steps up in class. 9-Ainiwaer Yilixiati (17-1, 12) Chinese warrior Ainiwaer Yilixiati is an interesting fighter who perhaps could be much higher up this list, if he and his team pushed better match making. The aggressive and fun to watch 27 year old looked exciting on his climb through the ranks, was much more competitive with Jayde Mitchell than the scorecards said in 2017, and has slowly moved on since that loss. Wins against Ryosuke Maruke and Betuel Ushona in 2019 seemed to suggest that there was progress with his career but we need to see that continue when boxing resumes in China later in the year. He's talented, young-ish at 27, but needs to be allowed to test himself. 10-Riku Kunimoto (4-0, 2) The final place in these rankings was a hard one, with several names all in the running. We've gone with potential rather than anything else here, with Riku Kunimoto. The Japanese novice is just 23 but already looks like the countries next major Middleweight player. His first two bouts were relatively straight forward wins but last year he stopped Shoma Fukumoto in a big step up and is clearly a very capable youngster, able to make a mark. He was supposed to face Kazuto Takesako this year, though speculation is that that bout may end up slipping to 2021 due to the on going situation, and in reality that is probably a good thing for Kunimoto and his career. On the bubble: Abay Tolesh, Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa, Shuji Kato, Ulugbek Khakberdiev and Odiljon Aslonov  We've all heard of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and we've decided to put our spin on things with "Six degrees of separation" looking to connect Asian fighters you may never have assumed were connected! Today we connect Kazakhstan's first world champion Vasily Jirov....and Filipino great Manny Pacquiao. 1-As the IBF Cruiserweight champion Vasily Jirov was the first Kazakh to win a world title, but he isn't the only world champion from Kazakhstan, another is Middleweight great Gennady Golovkin. 2-On April 25th 2009 Gennady Golovkin recorded his 16th professional win, stopping Anthony Greenidge in 5 rounds. The main event of that card saw Felix Sturm retain the WBA Middleweight title as he stopped Japanese challenger Koji Sato, who had entered the bout 14-0 (13) 3-Not many Japanese fighters fighters make their debut in the US, though Koji Sato did actually did begin on US soil when he made his debut in 2005, stopping Francisco Valdez in Las Vegas on his debut. Another Japanese fighter who debuted on US soil was Yasutsune Uehara, who debuted in Honolulu in 1972, in fact his first 5 professional bouts were all fought at the Honolulu International Center.  4-In 1980 Yasutsune Uehara claimed the WBA Super Featherweight title for Japan by defeating Samuel Serrano with a 6th round KO win in Detroit. The win was the Ring Magazine Upset of the Year for 1980
5-Another Ring Magazine Upset of the Year saw a then unbeaten Vic Darchinyan being stopped in 5 rounds by a then unknown Nonito Donaire, who put himself on the map with this win, in a big way, and claimed the 2007 Upset of the Year. 6-Nonito's Donaire's win over Darchinyan wasn't just the Upset of the Year, in the eyes of Ring Magazine, but also KO of the year. With that KO Donaire become the second Filipino to win the KO of the Year award, following on from Morris East who win it in 1992 when he stopped Akinobu Hiranaka. The only other Filipino to hold the award is the legendary Manny Pacquiao taking us all the way through to the iconic Pacman. As an aside Pacquiao has been on both sides of the of KO of the Year. His KO over Ricky Hatton saw Pacquiao win the KO of the Year award, whilst his loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in their fourth bout saw him on the receiving end of the KO of the Year. Earlier this week we saw Japanese star Ryota Murata (16-2, 13) retain his WBA Middleweight title with a TKO win over Canadian challenger Steven Butler. After that promoter Bob Arum mentioned two possible bouts for Murata for 2020, for the Tokyo Dome. Here we look not only at those 2 bouts, but also 3 other potential options for Murata for his next bout, as the Japanese Middleweight star looks to further build on his career. With that in mind lets look at "Five for...Ryota Murata".
1-Gennady Golovkin (40-1-1, 35) One of the potential opponents mentioned by Arum was Kazakh fighter Gennady Golovkin, the current IBF Middleweight champion and one of the biggest names in the sport. At 37, soon to be 38, time is running out on Golovkin's career, and a huge pay day for a summer fight with Murata would be enticing, especially with it being unification bout and a fight he'd feel he should win. This would be a massive all-Asian fight, between two heavy handed fighters, who can bring fireworks. The only real issue with this fight is just how much does Golovkin have left in the tank after a very long and career, which has seen him look more and more human in recent years. 2-Saul Alvarez (53-1-2, 36) If Murata fails to land GGG then the obvious choice is a man who has been speaking of fighting in Japan recently, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. Golden Boy Promotions, who promote Alvarez, were in Japan with Butler and they seemed very open to the idea of a Canelo Vs Murata fight in the new year. The date pencilled in for this would likely be after the 2020 Olympics games, but that's certainly not likely to be a problem for either man. The big question mark would be the weight, with Murata being a Middleweight and Canelo fighting between Middleweight and Light Heavyweight. 3-Liam Willams (22-2-1, 17) If the big names can't be scheduled for Murata in 2020 we'd love a fan friendly battle with Welshman Liam Williams. This wouldn't be a big name, or a huge draw fight, but would be the sort of fun action bout that we'd enjoy watching. Murata would be strongly favoured against "The Machine", but Williams certainly deserves a big fight and why not have that against Murata in what would be a fun war? Williams may want to go a different route to a title, for example chasing Demetrius Andrade, but we suspect this would be the high profile option and the most exciting, by far. It would also help both men increase their profiles with a new audience, with British fans often over-looking Murata and an international audience not being that away of Williams. 4-Demetrius Andrade (28-0, 17) Few fighters have frustrated and disappointed as much as Demetrius Andrade. The American, known as "Boo Boo" has been a professional since late 2008 and has spoke a good fight but failed to secure any sort of career defining bout. Andrade has a dull style to watch and whilst he is a talent the 31 year old, who turns 32 in February needs a big fight. There won't be many bigger options than a unification bout in Japan with Murata. Andrade is pencilled in to fight Luke Keeler in January, but that should be a straight forward win, and a bout with Murata in May would certainly be do-able, if they both want it. It wouldn't be great to watch, but would see the winner leaving with 2 titles and having more power to call shots with the likes of Golovkin. 5-Esquiva Falcao (25-0, 17) About that was once talked about a lot, but never materialised, was a bout between Murata and Brazilian Esquiva Falcao. The two men fought in two notable amateurs bouts, the semi-final of the 2011 World Championships and the final of the 2012 Olympics, with Murata winning both and a rematch in the pros always seemed the logical match up. We do wonder if the ship has perhaps sailed, but if not this bout would be an easy sell, and has a great back story running through it. Falcao's next bout is set to take place in China, in February, and if he wins there's no reason why Japan couldn't be next. This past weekend Kazakh fighter Gennady Golovkin (40-1-1, 35) reclaimed a portion of the Middleweight crown as he narrowly outpointed Sergiy Derevyanchenko to become the new IBF Middleweight champion. The bout was supposed to be a mismatch for Golovkin, but the 37 year old was pushed all the way by the "Technician" and it now seems like time is running out for Golovkin and his career.
With that in mind we've decided to do a special mid-week "Five For..." for the hard hitting "GGG", along with our regular Friday "Five For...", which will look at options for Japanese Flyweight Junto Nakatani. 1 - Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10) II The most obvious match up for Golovkin is to re-run this weekend's match and give Sergiy Derevyanchenko a rematch. The first bout was fantastic, competitive, and a back and forth war that saw both men digging deep. With that in mind a rematch next time out would be a very marketable bout, though one that may not be something that Golovkin will be rushing head first towards. Whilst the Kazakh does have big money on the table from DAZN Derevyanchenko brings very little to the table, and given how hard he pushed Golovkin the bout is a high risk low reward bout for "GGG", but one that fans may be demanding due to just how close their first contest was. 2 - Ryota Murata (15-2, 12) For the last few years the Japanese press have been regularly pushing the narrative of Golovkin coming to Japan and fighting 2012 Olympic champion Ryota Murata. The bout has long been mooted as being something that could headline at the Tokyo Dome, something no Japanese fighter has ever done, and would be a big money spinner for both. Murata and his team have been rumoured to have the money to bankroll a Golovkin fight, and throwing the money into the kitty that DAZN would already have set aside for Golovkin would suggest this could be a huge money fight. There are issues with TV, both in Japan and the US, but those issues could be solved relatively easily and we have seen the promoters for the two men working together in recent months. The feeling we get is it's now or never to pull the trigger on this one. 3 - Demetrius Andrade (28-0, 17) If Golovkin is going to remain in the US, and the rematch with Derevyanchenko isn't going to happen then a possible alternative is a unification bout with WBO champion Demetrius Andrade. The unbeaten American is desperate for a big fight and Golovkin, although looking like a faded force, is still a big fight and remains one of the division's biggest names. For Golovkin it gives him a chance to unify 2 of the Middleweight titles, again, and try to secure one more big win. For Andrade it delivers the big fight he is said be craving and gives him a dance partner who will be looking to beat him. This isn't much a great match up stylistically, but it does tick boxes for both men and would be a compelling match up, even if it's not likely to be a great fight to watch. 4 - Billy Joe Saunders (28-0, 13) Murata isn't the only fighter to have long been linked to Golovkin, but not yet managed to secure a fight with the Kazakh. Another fighter in a similar situation is English fighter Billy Joe Saunders, who has come close to facing GGG but the never has never ended up being done. Earlier this year Saunders attended an event in Kazakhstan calling for a fight in Golovkin's native country and it seems like that would be a bout that would make sense. Win or lose facing Saunders in Kazakhstan would give Golovkin a home coming bout, and a chance to fight in front of the Kazakh fans. If he's planning on fighting in Kazakhstan before calling it a day on his career this is the bout that makes the most sense, and would work, win or lose, as a great swansong for his career. 5 - Alfredo Angulo (26-7, 21) A left of field suggestion would be a bout with the hard hitting Alfredo Angulo, who just put himself back on the map with an upset win over Peter Quillin. The reality is that this wouldn't be a big bout, but would see Golovkin going up against a fighter trained by his old trainer, Abel Sanchez. More importantly than that it would be the type of bout that we'd imagine Golvokin win would win with out too many problems, look good doing so and would let him retire on a high. This isn't the sort of bout that would really excite fans, but for a farewell bout, sold as such, this would an ideal way to close out his career next May. |
Thinking Out East
With this site being pretty successful so far we've decided to open up about our own views and start what could be considered effectively an editorial style opinion column dubbed "Thinking Out East" (T.O.E). Archives
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