![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/GGG.jpg\" "\\"GGG\\"")
<\/a>The deal has been signed \u2013 unbeaten WBA, IBO and WBC Interim middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (31-0, 28 KOs) of Kazakhstan will fight top-rated Martin Murray (28-1-1, 12 KOs) of the UK in Monte Carlo on February 21. Golden Gloves and K2 Promotions announced the bout minutes after Murray\u2019s successful WBC Silver belt defense against Domenico Spada in Monaco on Saturday. Golovkin will go in search of his record 19th straight stoppage while Murray will be hoping it is third time lucky after two previous title bids were rebuffed by the judges.<\/p>\n\u201cMurray is generally regarded as the best middleweight outside the world champions,\u201d said promoter Rodney Berman. \u201cAs we all know, he\u2019s a world champion without a belt. He won\u2019t be intimidated for one second fighting \u2018GGG\u2019, unlike all of Golovkin\u2019s challengers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions agreed. \u201cArguably, Martin Murray will be the toughest opponent Gennady has ever faced. It\u2019s a great way to follow up the Marco Antonio Rubio win: coming back to Europe and Monte Carlo against a top-rated middleweight contender. It fits in perfectly as Murray has shown he is world class and Gennady wants to continue to prove himself the most exciting fighter out there. Gennady is making big inroads in the US, but it\u2019s also important for the fight to be in primetime in Europe where he has so many fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murray has won four fights since dropping a narrow decision to then-WBC champion Sergio Martinez in 2013, the last two of which were in Monte Carlo.<\/p>\n
Golovkin has won 13 straight world championship fights \u2013 all by stoppage \u2013 on his way to confirming his status as the world\u2019s most exciting boxer. He has also fought twice before in Monte Carlo, beating Nobuhiro Ishida in 2013 and Osumanu Adama in February.<\/p>\n
He was ringside in Monte Carlo on Saturday and said: \u201cIt feels great to get this fight. Murray is a great fighter, very strong. I remember the Sergio Martinez bout; it was an amazing fight. Along with Matthew Macklin and Daniel Geale, Murray is one of the best pure boxers in the division. I like to test myself. I\u2019m giving him a chance and for Europe this is the biggest fight in the middleweight division. It is important to fight here, where many of my fans and followers are<\/p>\n
Said Murray: \u201cI think he\u2019s a top fighter. He\u2019s crushed everybody he\u2019s been in with, but I\u2019ve got the tools to beat any middleweight out there. I wouldn\u2019t be taking the fight if I didn\u2019t think I could win. A lot of his opponents have gone into the fight already beat. You won\u2019t get that with me. I\u2019m gonna go in there and stand up to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berman rates Golovkin highly, but believes that Murray has a chance of an upset.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have the highest regard for Golovkin, but the truth is his opponents have been sitting ducks. Out of fear, they lose the fight before they step into the ring; they\u2019re intimidated and scared. You look at Murray\u2019s background and just know he won\u2019t be cowered. He\u2019s the first guy I\u2019ve seen who will create angles, who won\u2019t stand in front of Golovkin waiting to be hit. Murray will make Golovkin work. He has the ability to outhustle him,\u201d said the man who has famously promoted a number of major upsets over the years.<\/p>\n
These include Hasim Rahman\u2019s KO of heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, Corrie Sanders\u2019 blowout of Wladimir Klitschko and Vuyani Bungu\u2019s shock win over unbeaten Kennedy McKinney.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t get better than coming back to Monte Carlo,\u201d added Loeffler. \u201cThe atmosphere is electric and Gennady enjoys it. He makes every fight an exciting fight because of his style. Every opponent has a plan . . . until they feel Gennady\u2019s first punch.\u201d<\/p>\n
The undercard, Berman assured, would be top rate.<\/p>\n
RSR Is NOW Hiring Boxing Writers<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The deal has been signed \u2013 unbeaten WBA, IBO and WBC Interim middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (31-0, 28 KOs) of Kazakhstan will fight top-rated Martin Murray (28-1-1, 12 KOs) of the UK in Monte Carlo on February 21. Golden Gloves and K2 Promotions announced the bout minutes after Murray\u2019s successful WBC Silver belt defense against […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[10906],"class_list":["post-46817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-gennady-ggg-golovkin-sends-shockwaves-through-boxing-martin-murray-fight-a-done-deal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46817"}],"version-history":[{"count":-1,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46817\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}