Kazakhstan’s middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin has been stripped of his IBF title after refusing to commit to making a mandatory defence against undefeated number one contender Sergey Derevyanachenko, the organisation announced yesterday.
The famously rigid IBF, whose offices are based in New Jersey, ultimately decided to strip their champion after a protracted period of deliberation, following an appeal lodged by Derevyanachenko’s promoter Lou DiBella several weeks ago.
Dibella was unhappy with Golovkin’s decision to face voluntary opponent Vanes Martirosyan on May 5 instead of Ukrainian Derevyanachenko, a dangerous prospect who is unbeaten in 12 contests with 10 knockout victories. After Golovkin obliterated Martirosyan in two rounds, Dibella subsequently lobbied the IBF to enforce a showdown between his fighter and reigning champion Golovkin before the end of the year; something which was seemingly successful, as the IBF’s ruling now suggests.
Indeed, the final determination of the IBF on this matter significantly hinders Golovkin’s plans of becoming undisputed champion by holding all four middleweight belts simultaneously; replicating the feats of legendary middleweights Bernard Hopkins and Jermain Taylor, respectively. Golovkin, who until recently held three of the major titles with the exception of Billy-Joe Saunders’ WBO championship, initially captured the IBF version of the title in October 2015 after a thoroughly dominant eighth-round stoppage of Canadian David Lemieux on pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden.
A mouthwatering clash between destructive punchers Golovkin and Derevyanachenko is still a conceivable, albeit remote possibility if the former – still very much a formidable force at 36, as evidenced by his last outing – remains resolved to eventually become undisputed champion despite this recent setback.
However, it appears both men have much more immediate matters to attend to at this moment in time, as Derevyanachenko is now exceedingly likely to fight for the vacant IBF title. Meanwhile, Golovkin lines up his next opponent; whether it is Jermall Charlo, Billy-Joe Saunders, or Canelo Alvarez, remains to be seen.