Gennady Golovkin to face Osumanu Adama in stay-busy title defense on February 1

Gennady Golovkin doesn't like to stay out of the ring long, so even without HBO backing his next fight, the WBA middleweight titleholder will return to defend his belt against Osumanu Adama in Monte Carlo.

Golovkin (28-0, 25 KO) went 4-0 in 2013, winning three fights on HBO over Gabriel Rosado, Matthew Macklin, and Curtis Stevens, as well as a spring bout in Monte Carlo against Nobuhiro Ishida.

"Gennady has been very forthright in his commitment to staying active and fighting the toughest opposition available," said Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions. "He's anxious to make a quick return to the ring and looking forward to the challenge of defending his title against Adama in Monte Carlo."

"Over the course of the last year Gennady has distinguished himself as among the most popular and most watched boxers in the world, far surpassing many other world champions in TV ratings this year."

Adama (22-3, 16 KO) is a decent fringe contender with two wins in a row. In his last loss, which came in March 2012, he went to Australia and was routinely outpointed by Daniel Geale, which was a fight for Geale's IBF title.