Gennady Golovkin vs. Dominic Wade: Details, Comments Surrounding Potential Fight

Gennady Golovkin unified the IBF and WBA middleweight titles with an eight-round TKO of David Lemieux in October 2015, and the undefeated champion is now slated to do battle with mandatory IBF challenger Dominic Wade on April 23.

Continue for updates. 

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Golovkin-Wade Slated for April 23

ESPN.com's Dan Rafael relayed the news and added the fight will be televised on HBO and likely take place at The Forum in Los Angeles. 

According to Rafael, Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) wanted his next fight to come against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, but both camps shut talks down and agreed not to entertain the idea of a fight between the two middleweight giants until at least September. 

Incidentally, Alvarez's next opponent was confirmed Tuesday when Golden Boy Promotions announced Alvarez would enter the ring against welterweight stud Amir Khan on May 7, per Rafael. 

With talk of a potential Golovkin-Alvarez bout tabled, the focus will shift to a mismatch with Wade (18-0, 12 KOs) that could prove to be Golovkin's 32nd career knockout. Only three of the big puncher's wins to date have yet to end with a knockout, and only one of his last five fights has lasted past the 10th round. 

Wade, 25, is eight years younger than his polished challenger and owns an undefeated record that would seem to indicate he's up for the tall task ahead. 

"He is not ready for Golovkin and he has virtually zero name recognition," Rafael wrote. "He has faced extremely limited opposition, although he did score his most notable victory in his last fight in June."

Wade's last fight resulted in a split-decision victory over Sam Soliman, but he hasn't been in the ring since that bout in June 2015. 

In other words, Golovkin should enter the April 23 showdown with the odds tilted heavily in his favor as he seeks to gain even more momentum before a potential showdown with Alvarez.

Stats courtesy of BoxRec.