Gennadiy Golovkin Vacates His IBF Middleweight Title
Golovkin was ordered to fight Esquiva Falcao
Gennadiy Golovkin, the two-time unified champion, has given up his IBF middleweight title after having had it for more than three years.
This decision was made after he was told to fight the undefeated mandatory challenger Esquiva Falcao. Golovkin (42-2-1, 37KOs) defeated Sergiy Derevyanchenko in a thrilling match to regain the vacant IBF middleweight belt.
Meanwhile, Falcao secured the mandatory position for the IBF middleweight title after he earned a technical decision victory over Patrice Volny.
His subsequent fight was a ten-round decision win over Cristian Fabian Rios on May 29th, 2022 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
As time moved on, Golovkin defended his title on two occasions; first against Kamil Szeremeta, who he was able to beat after eight rounds, and then against Ryoto Murata in an IBF/WBA unification bout in Saitama, Japan, which he won in the ninth round.
After coming out on top in the fight against Murata, GGG was obliged to go up against WBA ‘Regular’ middleweight champion Erislandy Lara.
💥🥊 pic.twitter.com/MNAYxCnwie
— Gennadiy Golovkin (@GGGBoxing) September 18, 2022
Golovkin was given the ‘OK’ to compete in a different weight division, outside of middleweight, and face Canelo Alvarez (58-2-2, 39KOs) in their third fight.
Unfortunately, it didn’t go his way, with Alvarez defending his unified title after a twelve-round-decision win. Just a few days after Golovkin’s second defeat to Alvarez, the WBA demanded that Golovkin and Lara fight.
They were given a month to come to an agreement. Golovkin consulted the IBF to execute his mandatory bout with Falcao instead.
Both organizations concurred that the IBF fight should come first, and Lara was granted permission to carry out a voluntary defense of his title.
However, no fight materialized with Golovkin. Therefore, according to standard rules, the IBF should determine the two most viable fighters to compete for the vacant belt. Presently, Falcao (30-0, 20KOs) is the top contender, and Michael Zerafa (31-4, 19KOs) is in second position.
Either way, fans have come to terms with the fact that the once-most-feared fighter in boxing is coming to the end of his career, as father time catches up with the 40-year-old Golovkin.