By Ryan Maquiñana

The prevailing joke in American boxing circles is that if you’re up against a house fighter in Germany, you have to knock him out to get a draw.

Perhaps word hasn’t reached Australia, because Daniel “The Real Deal” Geale has earned his moniker by traveling to the European nation twice and coming away with a pair of middleweight world titles via split decision.

“There’s no secret to it,” Geale (28-1, 15 KOs) told BoxingScene.com.  “We just worked very hard believed in ourselves the whole way.  I think one thing that worked in our favor is that both guys didn’t expect us to go there and take away their title from Germany, and we were able to surprise them.”

Last weekend, the resident of New South Wales arrived in Las Vegas in hopes of challenging the winner of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KOs) and Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KOs).

However, a thrilling 12th round comeback from the former has seemingly earned him a return bout with the latter, foiling Geale and promoter Gary Shaw’s plans for the time being.

“I thought Martinez controlled the fight throughout, maybe relaxed and took things for granted, and he got caught,” Geale said.  “But he was strong enough to get back up and keep going.  I think Chavez was frustrated by Martinez’s workrate.”

According to K2 Promotions’ Tom Loeffler, his fighter Gennady Golovkin must get a shot at Geale’s “super” belt by December 31st or else the Aussie will be stripped.  

“There’s a few other names,” Geale said.  “There’s talks of Golovkin.  He’s a good puncher.  When you fight him, you have to take him out of his comfort zone and put the pressure back on him.  It would be interesting to see how he handles that.”

After dethroning Felix Sturm and Sebastian Sylvester, the 31-year-old is primed to take the next step toward facing the middleweights in the world.

“For us, we would love Martinez,” Geale said.  “After this win against Chavez, he’s going even higher to another level.  I want the best.  He’s the guy I want.  But if we don’t get him now, it’s not the end of the world.  There’s a lot of options at 160, but we’re chasing the big names now.”

CSNBayArea.com.  He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Ratings Panel for Ring Magazine. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at Norcalboxing.net, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.