With that came the decision to move forward with his mandatory defense of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title, as he will next face unbeaten contender Dominic Wade. The fight will take place April 23 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., with HBO to televise.

Representatives from the IBF confirmed receipt of signed contracts on Wednesday morning.

“We’re excited to announce Gennady’s next world title defense against Dominic Wade along with his return to the Fabulous Forum, “said Tom Loeffler, managing director of K2 Promotions. “Since fighting at the Stubhub Center in October 2013, the Southern California boxing fans have embraced Gennady as the biggest ticket seller in the State and we’re expecting another massive crowd and an outstanding night on April 23.”

The bout marks Golovkin's second fight at The Forum in less than a year. His debut at the famed venue came in front of a packed house last May, scoring a 6th round stoppage of Willie Monroe Jr.

With his latest upcoming adventure, Golovkin (34-0, 31KOs) will make the 16^th defense of at least one alphabet title, his belted run dating back to 2010. He was hoping for such a fight to come against either recently crowned World Boxing Organization (WBO) titlist Billy Joe Saunders or in the form of a super fight with World Boxing Council (WBC) and lineal champion Alvarez. 

Those two options represented the only alternative to a mandatory title defense - and even at that would have required Golovkin's team to file for an exception and for the IBF to formally approve.

Saunders' team opted to wait a little longer in hopes of such a fight becoming a more lucrative attraction down the road, racking up a few defenses of his own in the process. Meanwhile, Alvarez has already committed to a May 5 voluntary defense versus former 140 lb. titlist and current Top 10 welterweight contender Amir Khan, with their bout to take place at a maximum catchweight of 155-pounds. 

Given that, Golovkin and K2 Promotions elected to simply take care of present business at hand rather than prolong the inevitable.

“I’m happy to fight again at the Forum in front of my fans and friends in Los Angeles. Dominic Wade is a very hungry and skilled middleweight who is undefeated and will be another big test for me,” said Golovkin in a statement released through the press office of K2 Promotions. “Thanks to my Coach Abel Sanchez, (K2 Promotions managing director) Tom Loeffler, my team, HBO and the Forum for another opportunity to defend my middleweight titles.”

Also due to appear on the show is the 2016 debut of Roman Gonzalez. The unbeaten World flyweight champion from Nicaragua has twice appeared in chief support to Golovkin, coming in each of his past two fights. The first pairing served as Gonzalez' long-awaited HBO debut, knocking out former junior flyweight champ Edgar Sosa last May on the Golovkin-Monroe undercard. 

His most recent appearance came on the HBO Pay-Per-View telecast topped by Golovkin's aforementioned win over Lemieux. In the final preliminary bout of the night, Gonzalez scored an impressive 9th round knockout of former two-division champ Brian Viloria, thus further enhancing his status among those who rate the diminutive star as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. 

Golovkin hopes to one day challenge that claim, but that will come as fights of the magnitude of Alvarez and Saunders materialize.

The unbeaten middleweight knockout artist from Kazakhstan is coming off of a title unification victory over David Lemieux, scoring a one-sided 8^th round stoppage last October in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The feat added the IBF title to Golovkin’s growing collection that includes the World Boxing Association (WBA) “super”, International Boxing Organization (IBO) regular and WBC interim belts. With the win over Lemieux came the responsibility of honoring the mandatory challenge that is due this spring.

Such an honor was supposed to go to Tureano Johnson, who scored a decision win over Eamonn O’Kane in their title eliminator which came on the Golovkin-Lemieux undercard. No sooner than talks had begun, Johnson was pulled from the running due to a recurring shoulder injury that requires surgery and an extended absence from the ring.

The next in line to accept the fight in accordance with the IBF rankings was Wade (18-0, 12KOs), an unbeaten contender from the greater Washington D.C. area. His most recent bout was by far his toughest test to date, scoring a 12-round split decision win over former titlist Sam Soliman last June.

"I am so grateful to be given the opportunity to fight ‘GGG’ for the IBF Middleweight Championship on April 23rd," said an elated Wade. "I've worked hard my entire career to get to this point.  I'm poised and ready to take on the challenge.  I thank my Manager Jerry Vines, #TeamWade and all of my trainers, opponents and supporters for preparing me for this moment." 

The pairing makes for interesting bedfellows in terms of boxing politics. Wade’s adviser is Al Haymon, whose fighters were previously blacklisted by the old guard at HBO, dating back to 2013 when he and former business partner Golden Boy Promotions were funneling over their fighters to Showtime.

Wade - fighting for a title for the first time in his young career - and Khan receiving the green light to fight on HBO has created the perception of perhaps a change of heart in light of new leadership atop the American cable giant. That development still has a long way to go, but for now at least hasn't disrupted the plans of one of its leading attractions in Golovkin.

"Knockout excitement in the ring has grown synonymous for fans with just one letter repeated three times, 'GGG,' and Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin doesn't look to disappoint in his 2016 debut headlining a World Championship Boxing event from the historic Forum in Inglewood, CA," said Peter Nelson, Executive Vice President, HBO Sports.  "His challenger, Dominic Wade, has a career-defining opportunity in front of him to usurp stardom with an upset, and we know he will bring his A-game on April 23."

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox