Border ban scuttles Golovkin title bout

— Gennady Golovkin’s world title fight against Ryota Murata in Japan was Friday postponed “to next spring,” over a ban on new foreign arrivals to the country prompted by the Omicron variant.

The hard-hitting Kazakh boxer was set to return to the ring after a year’s absence with a unification bout against Japanese WBA super-titlist Murata on 29 December in Saitama, north of Tokyo.

But promoters Teiken announced Friday that the fight would be moved to a yet-to-be-decided date next spring, with Golovkin and his team unable to enter Japan because of immigration rules.