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GGG opens training camp for Murray

It's time for more GGG.

Middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin has opened training camp with trainer Abel Sanchez in Big Bear Lake, California, ahead of his defense against Martin Murray on Feb. 21 (HBO) in Monte Carlo.

"It was a very busy time these last few weeks but I liked spending time with the media and fans all over the world. I look forward to starting training camp with my coach and putting on another great show in Monte Carlo," Golovkin said.

Golovkin recently went on a four-country media tour to promote the fight, stopping in Monte Carlo, Astana (in his native Kazakhstan), London (in Murray's native England) and Mexico City, with a fifth stop being planned for January in Los Angeles, where Golovkin moved recently after years of being based in Germany.

He also was ringside at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on Saturday watching Andy Lee knock out Matt Korobov to win a vacant middleweight belt. Golovkin is interested in unification fights, so an eventual fight with Lee would surely be of interest to him. They were actually scheduled to fight April 26 in New York when Lee was supposed to challenge for GGG's belt. But Golovkin’s father died unexpectedly and Golovkin withdrew from the fight.

Golovkin (31-0, 28 KOs) has scored 18 knockouts in a row, has the highest knockout percentage (90.3) of any active titleholder in boxing and is coming off his 12th title defense, a second-round blowout of Marco Antonio Rubio on Oct. 18 to add an interim belt to the one he already owns.

On Oct. 25, Golovkin was ringside to watch as Murray (29-1-1, 12 KOs) won a seventh-round technical decision against Domenico Spada in Monte Carlo to clear the final hurdle to their showdown. With a victory, Golovkin hopes to secure a unification fight -- ideally against the winner of the proposed Miguel Cotto-Canelo Alvarez fight -- or a major fight at super middleweight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Carl Froch or Andre Ward.