Gennady Golovkin has given up any hope of fighting bitter rival Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez in a winner-takes-all trilogy bout because the Mexican wants to unify the super-middleweight division in 2021.

Kazakh Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KO's) has instead set his sights on Ryoto Murata, according to World Boxing News

The IBF middleweight world champion is set to defend his belt against an as yet unnamed opponent this summer, but it appears he already has unification plans of his own as he eyes a high-stakes shootout with the WBA world titleholder. 

Golovkin lost his WBA (Super), WBC and IBO middleweight titles to Alvarez in September 2018 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in a majority decision which was deemed highly controversial at the time, almost a year to the day when the pair shared a thrilling draw in their first meeting.   

Their fates have always seemed inextricably intertwined, but they've gone their separate ways over the last few years. 

Golovkin has picked up wins over Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Kamil Szeremeta while Alvarez has beaten the likes of Sergey Kovalev and Callum Smith. 

It was just a couple of weeks ago that Billy Joe Saunders was stopped in the eighth round by Alvarez, a fight in which Golovkin's presence was noticeably absent from ringside.

Back then, Alvarez admitted he would be happy to run it back with Golovkin, but talks regarding a possible bout with IBF super-middleweight champion Caleb Plant appear to have picked up steam once again. 

Thankfully, there's no shortage of options for 'Triple G', as the middleweight division is one of the most talent-rich weight classes in the sport.

Jermall Charlo and Chris Eubank Jr have both expressed sincere interest in taking on Golovkin. 

But it seems like the coronavirus pandemic has all but ended any hope of Golovkin or Alvarez fighting again anytime soon.  

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