Gennadiy Golovkin has officially vacated the only world title left around his waist – the IBO middleweight belt.
At 41-years-old, Golovkin’s future in the sport is unknown.
Golovkin saw action twice in 2022. In April of that year, he traveled to Japan to pick up a stoppage win over Ryota Murata in nine rounds to unify the WBA, IBF, IBO world titles.
Fast-forward to September in Las Vegas, he finally stepped in the ring with career-rival Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez for a third time. Golovkin moved up to super middleweight to challenge Canelo for the undisputed crown and lost a twelve round unanimous decision.
Earlier this year, the WBA ordered Golovkin to make a mandatory defense against WBA ‘regular’ champion Erislandy Lara. Golovkin would eventually vacate his belt, with Lara being upgraded to full champion status.
Prior to that, Golovkin was facing an IBF mandatory defense. Golovkin elected to vacate that belt, with Esquiva Falcao and Vincenzo Gualtieri clashing for that vacant title on July 1 in Germany.
There are still options out there for Golovkin, but it remains to be seen if anyone is capable of meeting his price for a ring return. Former world champion Jaime Munguia of Mexico has been very vocal about securing a fight with Golovkin. Others like British contender Chris Eubank Jr. have mentioned Golovkin as a possible opponent.