'He is past his prime' - Ryota Murata on Gennadiy Golovkin

Golovkin (right) vs Murata (left) [Instagram: @daznboxing]

Gennadiy Golovkin and Ryota Murata will fight on Saturday, April 9th, in Saitama, Japan.

'GGG' currently has a record of 41-1-1. Both his loss and draw came at the hands of Canelo Alvarez, though the fights were close and the decisions have been questioned by many.

In an interview with The Sun, Murata stated that he questioned the decisions of the Canelo-Golovkin fights. However, he also said that Golovkin's record does not matter to him:

"Yes, the decision on both fights with Canelo were questionable to me. But whether 'GGG' is unbeaten or not does not matter. I think he is past his prime. How I perform my strong points in the ring will be important."

Gennadiy Golovkin will turn 40-years-old the day before their fight. Since his fights with Canelo in 2017 and 2018, the Kazakh fighter has not faced the same level of opposition as he did in the lead-up to those bouts. This has led many to question whether or not Golovkin's age is finally catching up to him.

The middleweight has said himself that he has "no delusions" about his age, but also indicated that he does not think that his fighting years are over yet.

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Gennadiy Golovkin vs. Ryota Murata

Gennadiy Golovkin's IBF Middleweight Title and Ryota Murata's WBA (Super) Middleweight Title are both on the line on Saturday. The card will be held in Japan and will also feature a title fight between Junto Nakatani and Ryota Yamauchi for the WBO Flyweight Belt.

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Both boxers are known for their punching power. Golovkin is coming off a TKO victory over Kamil Szeremeta in 2020 and Murata is coming off a 2019 TKO victory over Steven Butler. Yet, Golovkin is also known for having one of the toughest chins in boxing. He is yet to be knocked to the canvas in nearly 400 combined amateur and professional fights.

In what is anticipated to be an entertaining fight, Golovkin is the favorite to score a knockout victory over his opponent. However, it must also be remembered that Golovkin's second-last opponent, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, managed to last 12 rounds with the knockout artist in 2019.