"Andre, stop lying to the fans" - Gennadiy Golovkin fires back at Andre Ward over fight comment
Gennadiy Golovkin has fired back at Andre Ward on Twitter. 'S.O.G' alleged that 'GGG' turned down a fight with him back in 2015.
Today is Andre Ward's 38th birthday. The former unified light heavyweight champion spent the day responding to fan questions on social media. One such question came through asking the 38-year-old if there were any fights that he regretted missing out on.
Ward responded by saying a rematch with Carl Frotch, a potential heavyweight bout against Anthony Joshua, and a fight with Golovkin. He added that 'GGG' was previously offered a fight against him, but he turned it down.
See Andre Ward's tweet about fights that he missed out on below:
(Froch, rematch in the UK; golovkin, he turned it down in less than 5min, A. Joshua, But I retired) twitter.com/brotha_oh/stat…
Golokin has now taken to social media to respond. The current IBO and IBF middleweight champion fired back at Ward by stating that the offer only came through after 'GGG' already had a fight booked. He also alleged that the Oakland native was jealous of his current success.
See Gennadiy Golovkin's tweet firing back at Andre Ward below:
@andreward Andre, stop lying to the fans. Your team made the offer AFTER I announced the fight with Lemieux and sold out MSG. You are still angry since that you never sold tickets like me. HBO knew you used the offer for publicity to move to 175. Happy Birthday
Gennadiy Golovkin is scheduled to fight Ryota Murata next
While Andre Ward is currently retired from the sport of boxing, Gennadiy Golovkin is still the IBF and IBO middleweight champion. The 39-year-old is expected to fight WBA (Super) middleweight champion Ryota Murata in his next outing in the ring.
The two were expected to fight in December 2021, but the bout was postponed due to COVID-19 issues. As of now, the fight doesn't have a scheduled date or venue. However, the event is being aimed for March/April and will likely take place in Murata's home country of Japan.
While the fight against Murata will be a massive event, 'GGG' has more at stake than his titles this spring. If Golovkin is able to get through his Japanese opponent, he's expected to take on his former rival Canelo Alvarez later in the year. The Mexican superstar is currently negotiating with Matchroom Boxing to make the trilogy bout a reality.
The two had a notable rivalry in the 2010s. Their first encounter in September 2016 ended in a controversial split draw. Many analysts think Golovkin should've won the fight. Alvarez won their September 2018 rematch via majority decision.
Both bouts were extremely well received, and a potential trilogy is likely to be one of the biggest bouts of the year.