"Triple G" vacates IBO World middleweight belt
The International Boxing Organisation announced today, June 14, that their middleweight champion, Gennadiy Golovkin, has vacated his world title.
IBO President, Ed Levine, released the following statement: "It is with great pride and some sadness that we announce that GGG has officially relinquished his IBO World Middleweight title.
"Mutual respect and recognition between Gennadiy and the IBO spans 12 years and 22 IBO Word title fights. GGG started this journey as the #1 middleweight in 2011 and remains so to this day. As we all know, when his World championship reign began, major contenders avoided fighting him for good reason. His initial string of 15 straight KO victories cearly shows why. Powerful, a superb boxer, and never knocked down, he set the pound for pound standard for all.
"As importantly, I know he is a kind, loyal, and honorable man outside the ring. I and all his fans will treasure having been associated with and watching him perform during the amazing journey.
"The IBO World Middleweight title is now vacant. His legacy will be there for the next IBO World Middleweight title holder and all future Middleweight World Champions."
Now 41, the Kazakh had held the IBO belt since October 2019. In his second fight back from defeat to his greatest ring rival, Saul Canelo Alvarez, Triple G defeated Sergiy Derevyanchenko via unanimous decision after a fierce battle for 12 rounds, a fantastic fight fitting for the venue, Madison Square Garden. GGG defended the belt twice to Kamil Szeremeta and Ryota Murata – winning both bouts by stoppage – before facing a second defeat to Canelo in his last fight in September 2022.
Turning pro in 2006, Golovkin had his first 12 fights in Germany, winning 10 by knockout. The first championship he ever won was the WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title in his 17th bout. He was first crowned world champion in his home country in his 20th contest when he defeated Nilson Julio Tapia in three rounds to capture the WBA World middleweight strap in 2010. Exactly one year later, he added the IBO crown to become a unified middleweight champion, winning the prestigious title in incredible fashion, with a devastating first round knockout, needing just 137 seconds to stop Lajuan Simon in December 2011 in Duesseldorf, Germany.
And so began his long and illustrious journey with the IBO, lasting over a dozen years.
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