Daniel Geale’s July tussle with Kazak knockout king Gennady Golovkin at Madison Square Garden is the bout most boxers dream of.
A huge stage, a worldwide audience and a world title on the line, not to mention a heavy pay packet.
All that stands in the Australian middleweight’s way is the unbeaten ‘GGG’, a 32-year-old wrecking ball.
Golovkin is world boxing’s rising star. Pound-for-pound he is number nine in the world according to BoxRec, which also rates him as the top middleweight in the world, ahead of Australia’s Sam Soliman, Peter Quillin, Geale and Felix Sturm.
Golovkin is a fercious puncher who has won every professional bout he has ever fought – 26 of them – by knockout. The Germany-based, California-trained fighter is in some ways reminiscent of Kosta Tszyu with his Soviet background, mixed Russian-Korean heritage, amateur pedigree and awesome KO ability.
He’s the kind of boxer you don’t mess with and don’t take lightly.
Geale has already passed on ‘GGG’ once, because he couldn’t secure Australian TV coverage, but now he has the fight set. The Tasmanian and the Kazak have actually fought before, when both were amateurs, at the 2001 East Asian games in Japan, Golovkin prevailing on points 13-5. But Geale maintains he knows how to beat the 2004 Olympic silver medal winner and is ready for the challenge.
Geale destroyed Garth Wood in his last fight and has staged upsets before, most notably in Germany in his world title wins against Sturm and Sebastian Sylvester. The Sydney-based fighter was very unlucky to lose against Darren Barker in Atlantic City last year. But that was an entertaining fight and put Geale’s name on the map in the US. Now he gets the chance for worldwide fame and global stardom. Knock off Golovkin and the world’s at his feet.
July 26 will be an important date for Australian boxing, not only for Geale but for fellow Aussies Soliman and Jarrod Fletcher.
Last weekend Soliman beat Sturm in Germany to grab the IBF world title in an amazing fight. It was a sweet reward for the hard-toiling 40-year-old.
Queenslander Fletcher is the least experienced of the three Aussie middleweights but was in line to fight Golovkin as his mandatory until Geale came into the picture.
Soliman or Fletcher could be next up for the winner of Golovkin-Geale. Either way, our middleweight division has never looked better.
Follow John Davidson on Twitter @johnnyddavidson
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