By Jake Donovan
It took him some 27 hours to travel 10,000 miles from Australia to Germany, but Daniel Geale was determined to make the journey there more difficult than the task at hand. Arriving in country two weeks early, jet lag wasn’t an issue, nor was the hostile crowd against him as he outlasted Sebastian Sylvester to pick up his first middleweight title.
The win was a watershed moment for Australia, which had never previously boasted a middleweight titlist. So it was fitting that Geale’s next history-making moment also took place in Deutschland, returning just 16 months later to bump off the streaking Felix Sturm. The win earned Geale the distinction of becoming the first-ever Australia-born boxer to unify two major titles.
Whenever fans—and let’s face it, many in the media as well—dismiss Geale’s chances versus Miguel Cotto this weekend at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, he doesn’t let it affect his fighting mentality. Instead, he just recalls the other times he defied boxing logic.
“That doesn’t bother me,” Geale (31-3, 18KOs) insists of the lack of support from the boxing world heading into his World middleweight championship challenge on Saturday (HBO, 10:30 p.m. ET). “I’ve had that many times before in other fights. It only serves as motivation for me.”
There’s plenty of motivation to be found for the visiting Aussie heading into perhaps the biggest fight of his 11-year career. Despite having not fought in exactly 52 weeks and with only one previous bout as a middleweight, Cotto will enter the ring as a 6-1 favorite to remain champion by night’s end.
Cotto’s one win at the weight was a history-making moment as well. A surprisingly one-sided 10th round stoppage of Sergio Martinez last June resulted in his becoming the first fighter from Puerto Rico to claim titles in four weight divisions.
That feat, coupled by Geale’s less-than-impressive knockout loss to Gennady Golovkin last July has most believing this weekend to be a foregone conclusion. Adding to the theory is the fact that the bout takes place at a catchweight of 157 lbs. rather than the traditional 160 lb. middleweight limit.
There’s also the part where a Cotto win sets up a lucrative and appealing showdown with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez later this fall.
In a sense, boxing needs for Cotto to win this weekend, which is fine. Just don’t count on Geale to toe the party line.
“I’m not coming over being an opponent,” Geale promises. “They think dropping me down a few pounds can weaken me. I can assure you that won’t be the case.”
So far, further proof will be necessary. A mandatory seven-day pre-fight weigh-in check put Geale at 167½ lbs., more than 10 lb. away from where he needs to be this Friday. The 34-year looked drawn in the weigh-in picture and again during Tuesday’s press conference.
Still, fights are won and lost in the ring, with outside particulars only playing a small part. The rest is dependent on talent and following your game plan, which has worked well for most of Geale’s career.
What’s missing for the moment, however, is a big win in the United States. He came up short in a disputed split decision loss to Darren Barker two summers ago, despite nearly knocking out the Brit with a wicked body shot midway through their title fight in Atlantic City.
Less than a year following his stateside debut came the debacle versus Golovkin. The odd thing about his 3rd round knockout loss—the only time he’s ever been stopped in a prizefight—was that Geale had actually landed a right hand shot on the unbeaten middleweight as the knockout blow was being delivered.
It’s not that Geale didn’t have his say; he was just outgunned in the firefight.
Still, losing to a beast like Golovkin—whom many believe to be the best middleweight in the world despite Cotto serving as the World champion—shouldn’t make him a decisive underdog by default. Such mentality, though, is what got Geale through the door and back on HBO this weekend.
“They made a mistake and looked at the (Golovkin) fight and feel that will be the Daniel Geale in this fight,” theorizes Gary Shaw, Geale’s stateside promoter. “Miguel made a mistake. This is more like the (Austin) Trout fight than it is like the GGG fight (Cotto lost a 12-round decision to Trout in Dec. ’12, his only ever loss at Madison Square Garden). We’ll see on June 6 which Daniel Geale comes into the ring and which Miguel Cotto comes into the ring.”
There are several factors that could come into play for Geale, although it all comes down to execution. Cotto hasn’t fought since the career-resurrecting win over Martinez. Geale has fought twice in that span—the loss to Golovkin and a 12-round win over countryman Jarrod Fletcher last December.
As mentioned earlier, there’s also the lucrative showdown with Alvarez waiting in the wings. While that fight is contingent on Cotto winning here (a rematch clause is in place in the event Geale wins), there is the possibility of his looking ahead to bigger paydays.
That said, Geale hasn’t traveled halfway around the world just to rely upon intangibles. Similarly, he doesn’t put much stock in anything beyond the ropes working against him—not when he’s been here and has conquered such settings before.
“I’m definitely in a similar mindset,” Geale says in comparing Saturday’s pre-fight preparation to his two big middleweight title wins on the road. “Coming over this time, it’s more similar to coming to Germany than when I fought (in New York City) last year. I will have most of the crowd against me. I’m coming over here very confident. I’ve trained very hard and I’m not going to let it slip.
“I’m going to have to go out there and be very convincing to win this fight. I’ve been in this situation before, having the crowd against me, These sorts of fights pump me up even more. I’ve had a hard training camp. I just have to go out there and do my job.”
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox