BoxRec

GGG and Ancajas title bouts in jeopardy as Japan closes borders due to Omicron variant

Japan has announced on Monday that they will be closing their borders and suspending entry of foreign visitors due to the threat of the new coronavirus variant Omicron. Although it’s still yet to be determined by scientists if it’s a bigger threat than Delta, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called the move an “emergency precaution to prevent a worst-case scenario” in the country.

Japan just recently eased their restrictions for foreign students and workers, but will now be going back to more strict travel guidelines once again.

While the WHO warned that fully understanding the new variant’s level of severity could take weeks, they still deemed that “the overall global risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron is assessed as very high.”

The Japanese Prime Minister did not say how long these restrictions would stay, but should it remain for the next few weeks as expected, some big combat sports events in Japan would be affected.

Gennady Golovkin is scheduled for a middleweight title unification bout against Ryota Murata on December 29, while Filipino IBF junior bantamweight champion Jerwin Ancajas is booked to take on Japan’s Kazuto Ioka on December 31. Current rules don’t allow Golovkin and Ancajas to enter the country, putting the two events in jeopardy.

On the Japanese MMA side of things, there’s an annual tradition of hosting a massive event on New Year’s Eve, and current restrictions would mean that Rizin can’t involve their top stars from other countries. If it stands, they will again have to settle on featuring only locally based fighters, much like what they did in 2020 when the pandemic started.

Israel also took a similarly strong stance as Japan, while several other countries are also tightening up their border restrictions a bit due to the growing number of cases of the Omicron variant. This includes the US, which reportedly plans to ban travel from South Africa and several other countries in the region.

Should more countries follow suit, several combat sports, and sporting events and athletes in general, could be affected as well.

come on japan, my dudes, let ggg and jerwin in , dont breaky my achy heart

Nooooooo

dont give up hope yet! it aint cancelled yet!

Honda states he is "more worried about Murata sparring" than the fight being off...

Last three years of GGG's career have been a disaster, which given he basically was the total equal of Canelo (even past his peak?) is gutting.

Wouldent mind GGG just retiring at this point. or fight mung. Murata was a fight noone wanted dont want to see him wait around for this.

They are idiots to set it in Japan instead of US, where it has been OK to hold well crowded events for quite a while.

Gutted

This fight had the potential to be a real bruiser.

Golovkin was offered the Andrade unification at start of year but chose to sit on his arse waiting for a New year fight with Murata, pissing away his prime years, I'm sure he can get out before year ends if he really wanted to

handsofstone wrote: ↑03 Dec 2021, 06:15 Golovkin was offered the Andrade unification at start of year but chose to sit on his arse waiting for a New year fight with Murata, pissing away his prime years, I'm sure he can get out before year ends if he really wanted to

Prime years?

He has probably been training yes.. But depending on how long the postponement will be, god knows.

Maybe April?

That's a piss take.

Sources - Gennadiy Golovkin-Ryota Murata postponed due to new COVID restrictions in Japan

Gennadiy Golovkin's wait to become a two-time unified champion will have to last a little longer.

Golovkin was slated to meet Ryota Murata in a middleweight title unification on Dec. 29 in Saitama, but the fight is now postponed, sources tell ESPN, due to new COVID restrictions that prohibit foreigners from visiting Japan.

The country's mandate was handed down Monday in an effort to combat the spread of the novel omicron variant. Officials hoped to obtain an exception for Golovkin from the Japanese government but were denied, sources said.

The Kazakhstan native has been training in Hollywood, Florida, for weeks in preparation for the bout. Officials plan to reschedule the bout in Japan next year, sources said.

Golovkin took to Twitter on Thursday night, writing, "I am deeply disappointed that fight in Japan has been postponed but the health and safety of the public must always be the priority. I look forward to returning to the ring against Ryota as soon as possible."

Golovkin, who turns 40 in April, is one of the biggest stars in boxing over the past 10 years. The menacing puncher was held to a controversial draw with Canelo Alvarez in their 2017 meeting before he dropped a narrow decision to the Mexican in the 2018 rematch.

Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) regained the title with a grueling victory over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in October 2019, but has competed just once since.

Murata (16-2, 13 KOs) represented a chance for GGG to claim a second title and also grow his reach. The 35-year-old became a star in Japan after claiming a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics (Golovkin won silver in 2004).

Both boxers were set to end career-long layoffs. Murata, ESPN's No. 4 middleweight, hasn't entered the ring since December 2019. He regained the WBA middleweight title with a second-round TKO victory over Rob Brant in 2019, exacting revenge over the only man to beat him in the pros.

"I feel that my entire amateur and professional boxing career has been a preparation for this fight against Gennadiy Golovkin," Murata said in November. "This fight will determine my place in the middleweight division and boxing history.

"Gennadiy Golovkin has long been the standard-bearer of the middleweight division. To me, he is still undefeated. I have the highest respect for him."

Golovkin, ESPN's No. 2 160-pounder, last fought in December 2020.

Another one

JamesPhilips wrote: ↑03 Dec 2021, 08:45 Another one

bites the dust..

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑03 Dec 2021, 06:24

handsofstone wrote: ↑03 Dec 2021, 06:15 Golovkin was offered the Andrade unification at start of year but chose to sit on his arse waiting for a New year fight with Murata, pissing away his prime years, I'm sure he can get out before year ends if he really wanted to

Prime years?

He has probably been training yes.. But depending on how long the postponement will be, god knows.

Maybe April?

That's a piss take.

Well maybe not prime but defo in twilight, either way he can't afford to be fannying about on sidelines if he still wants to be a top fighter

Will be April or May 2022

Good grief...4 or 5 months away

Covid pandemic or not, the real disease that's got a grip on world championship boxing is the length of time it takes to put some fights together.

Canelo boxed 4 times in 11 months ! It can be done.

Errol Spence.....not boxed for a year and who knows when his next fight will be for sure

GGG....potentially won't have boxed for 15 months

Josh Taylor...a boxer chomping at the bit to fight, out for 9 months at least since a career best win and an undisputed world champion with titles to defend

if ggg wins, he'll unify at 40 years old

how many other guys did it in their 40s? hopkins did, what others i wonder