Oct. 28--In an era when big-time boxers can't wait for their post-fight news conference to end to begin counting riches and retreating to a vacation, Gennady Golovkin did something else.
A week after pleasing a capacity StubHub Center crowd with an Oct. 18 second-round knockout of Mexico's Marco Antonio Rubio, Golovkin ventured to a vacation destination, Monte Carlo, but he did so to make a fight.
Middleweight world champion Golovkin (31-0, 28 knockouts) attended the technical-decision victory by England's Martin Murray (29-1-1, 12 KOs), and both men have now signed to fight each other Feb. 21 in Monaco, a bout HBO will televise.
Golovkin, who trains in Big Bear and intends to move to Southern California by next year, aims to fight four times this year unless a major pay-per-view opportunity comes his way.
By beating Rubio, Golovkin was positioned by his promoter Tom Loeffler to stand as the mandatory challenger to the WBC middleweight belt belonging to Miguel Cotto, who is working toward a title defense in May against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
"Fighting Rubio was a strategic decision for Gennady to now be the mandatory for the 'Canelo'-Cotto winner," Loeffler said. "It's hard to predict what they'll do, but it's my job to create opportunities for Gennady. 'Canelo' accepts almost every challenge, so that could happen. With Cotto, it's hard to predict. I know they're both warriors."
First, there's Murray, who knocked down former middleweight champion Sergio Martinez in a narrow 2013 loss in the Argentinian's home country. He also fought Germany's former middleweight champion Felix Sturm to a draw in Germany.
"Less than seven days after he beat Rubio, we announced the next fight," Loeffler said. "That's what Gennady wants, to stay active.
"Murray was the most interesting middleweight available, the highest-rated opponent, a strategic choice after Gennady came out clean from his fight."
Golovkin doesn't expect to be called out by super-middleweights Carl Froch, Andre Ward or Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., so he's resolved to fight frequently, entertaining via knockout and continuing to build his brand after drawing 1.3 million viewers on HBO and a record 9,300-plus to Carson on Oct. 18.
He'll get to Big Bear for training by Dec. 9, Loeffler said.
"Gennady is transcending demographics because people like his style and there were no complaints about his last fight going two rounds," Loeffler said. "They came to see a knockout, and that's what they got."
