The event involving the title unification fight between World Boxing Association middleweight ‘’super’’ champion Ryota Murata of Teiken Boxing Gym and International Boxing Federation middleweight kingpin Gennadiy Gennadyevich Golovkin of Kazakhstan on Dec. 29 at Saitama Super Arena will be postponed indefinitely due to the Japanese government’s move to close its borders to new entries by foreigners starting Nov. 29 amid concern over the new Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, the gym said on Dec. 3.

According to the gym, the new date for the event has not yet been decided especially after Japan has confirmed its second case of the potentially highly contagious strain recently.

‘’We will decide when to stage the event by closely observing the infectious status while discussing the situation with the parties concerned,’’ the gym added.

Initially, undefeated World Boxing Organization flyweight champion Junto Nakatani of M.T Boxing Gym’s second title defense against the ninth-ranked Cristian Gonzalez of Mexico was expected to serve as the chief supporting card of the Murata-Golovkin clash.

By the same token, Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation and the WBO’s Asia-Pacific lightweight kingpin Shuichiro Yoshino of Misako Boxing Gym’s title defense against former WBO super featherweight champion Masayuki Ito of Yokohama Hikari Boxing Gym was also prepared as one of the undercards of the Murata-Golovkin showdown.