We can not wait any more. If you like ‘Big Drama’, then Gennadiy Golovkin is back. You can now start the countdown to his trilogy against Mexican Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez on September 17.
But stop, I don’t want to be a bird of ill omen. GGG (41-1-1, 36 KO’s) and Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KO’s) have to win their respective matches first. So let’s focus on the super-busy day of April 9 where there will be six title fights, three of them with more than one belt at stake.
Golovkin will try to unify his International Boxing Federation (IBF) middleweight belt with the World Boxing Association (WBA) super champion title of Japan’s Ryota Murata (16-2-0, 13 KO’s).
The fight will take place in Saitama, Japan and both fighters arrive quite rusty. GGG, who turns 40 on April 8, has not officially competed since December 18, 2020, when he defeated Kamil Szeremeta to set the record for the most middleweight title defenses in history (21), while Murata , 36, took a long “vacation” that began on December 23, 2019.
GGG is the number two 160-pounder in the ESPN rankings, and Murata, whose last eight wins have come by knockout or retirement, is fourth. If he wins, Golovkin would fulfill his part to achieve the trilogy fight against Canelo in September, pending what happens in May when the Mexican challenges the Russian Dmitry Bivol for the WBA light heavyweight championship.
Another standout bout on Saturday, April 9 involves rising star Ryan Garcia (21-0-0, 18 KO’s). García, a phenomenon in social networks with almost 9 million followers on Instagramwill face the Ghanaian Emmanuel Tagoe (32-1-0, 15 KO’s), a boxer who debuted as a professional with a loss in 2004 and has never lost again.
It is Garcia’s first fight since beating Luke Campbell on Jan. 2, 2021. He has been out since then tending to his mental health and a hand injury that required surgery. And to add more intrigue to his return, it will be his first fight under new trainer Joe Goossen after parting ways with Eddy Reynoso and Team Canelo.
García-Tagore is agreed to a 12-round fight and will headline the card that will host the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Check out the Mikaela Mayer vs. Jennifer Han on ESPN+ and the main event on ESPN Deportes
Also on Saturday, and with the undercard broadcast on ESPN+ and the main event on ESPN Deportes, Mikaela Mayer (16-0-0, 5 KO’s) will exhibit her two super featherweight belts, one endorsed by the IBF and the other by the World Organization of Boxing (WBO), against Jennifer Han (18-4-1, 1 KO’s).
Mayer has become one of the benchmarks in women’s boxing who is achieving things unthinkable just a few years ago. She represented the United States at the 2016 Rio Olympics and debuted as a professional in 2017. In just five years, she already holds two world titles.
His opponent, Han, will not be a pushover in Costa Mesa, California. Han was world featherweight champion between September 2015 and February 2018, and although she lost in her last fight, it should be noted that she fell to the famous Katie Taylor (20-0-0, 6 KO’s), in a fight lightweight starter.
FULL SCHEDULE APRIL 9
Costa Mesa, Calif. (ESPN/ESPN+/ESPN Deportes)
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Title fight: Mikaela Mayer vs. Jennifer Han, 10 rounds, for Mayer’s IBF and WBO super featherweight titles
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Giovani Santillan vs. Jeovanis Barraza, 10 rounds, welter
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Jason Moloney vs. Francisco Pedroza, 10 rounds, gallo
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Andrew Moloney vs. Gilberto Mendoza, 8 rounds, supermosca
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Floyd Díaz vs. Blake Quintana, 6 rounds, junior pluma
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Luis Alberto Lopez vs. Raúl Chirino, 8 rounds, featherweight
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Duke Ragan vs. Diuhl Olguin, 6 rounds, pluma
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Virginia Fuchs vs. Randee Lynn Morales, 6 rounds, mosca
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Lindolfo Delgado vs. TBA, 8 rounds, junior welter
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Angel Hernandez vs. Victor Saravia, 4 rounds, featherweight
Saitama, Japan (DAZN)
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Title fight: Gennady Golovkin vs. Ryota Murata, 12 rounds, for Golovkin’s IBF middleweight title and Murata’s WBA super champion belt
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Shuichiro Yoshino vs. Masayuki Ito, 12 rounds, ligero
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Title fight: Together Nakatani vs. Ryota Yamauchi, 12 rounds, for Nakatani’s WBO flyweight title
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Kazuki Anaguchi vs. Ryuji Yamamoto, 6 rounds, supergallo
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Hiroka Amaki vs. Taiga Kato, 4 rounds, welter
San Antonio, Texas (DAZN)
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Ryan Garcia vs. Emmanuel Tagoe, 12 rounds, lightweight
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Title fight: Marlen Esparza vs. Naoko Fujioka, 10 rounds, for Esparza’s WBC flyweight title and Fujioka’s WBA world belt.
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Gabriel Rosado vs. Shane Mosley Jr., 10 rounds, supermedianos
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George Rincon vs. Alejandro Frías, 10 rounds, super lightweight
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Gregory Morales vs. Katsuma Akitsugi, 8 rounds, pluma
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Hector Valdez vs. Daniel Colula Moncada, 8 rounds, Super Bantamweight
Los Angeles (Showtime)
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Erickson Lubin vs. Sebastian Fundora, 12 rounds, super welterweight
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Tony Harrison vs. Sergio Garcia, 12 rounds, super welterweight
Holstebro, Denmark
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Title fight: Dina Thorslund vs. Niorkis Carreno, 10 rounds, for the female title gallon OMB de Thorslund
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Jacob Bank vs. Joe Hurn, 8 rounds, supermediano
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Michael Nielsen vs. Thomas Essomba, 8 rounds, supergallo
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Payman Akbari vs. Luis Millan, 8 rounds, lightweight
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Jeppe Moeller Christensen vs. Nika Kulumbegashvili, 6 rounds, crucero
San Francisco de Mostazal, Chile
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Title fight: Maribel Ramirez vs. Daniela Asenjo, 10 rounds, for Ramírez’s WBA women’s super flyweight title
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José Velasquez vs. Argel Berrio, 8 rounds, gallo
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Miguel González vs. Edinso Torres, 8 rounds, gallo
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Mario Esparza vs. Jonathan Huaman, 4 rounds, pluma
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