Gennady Golovkin stripped of IBF belt

Gennady Golovkin’s quest to unify the middleweight titles has hit a monumental snag.

The IBF have elected to strip “GGG” of their middleweight belt, citing Golovkin’s failure to face mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko. The sanctioning body originally allowed Golovkin to fight Vanes Martirosyan on May 5th under the stipulation that he sign to fight Derevyanchenko by August 3rd, but Golovkin “failed to agree in writing” that he would do so.

Derevyanchenko will fight for the vacant title in the near future.

It’s a blow for Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KO), who saw his rematch with Canelo Alvarez go up in smoke. His ideal path would see him face Billy Joe Saunders for the WBO belt before going after the eventual IBF titlist, but at 36 years old, he doesn’t have much time for political maneuvering.

Rest assured, we’ll have plenty of coverage for whatever fall matchups emerge from this ongoing debacle. You may make betting pools at your discretion.