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Now it can be confirmed: Daniel Geale’s team is in negotiations for a July 19 clash with WBA middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin. This developed as negotiations between Golovkin and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fell off due to contract issues on the part of Chavez. Geale meanwhile, was set to fight Matthew Macklin on May 24 but that fight has been scratched last week.
Blessing in Disguise?
The Macklin vs Geale bout was called off due to the cancellation of the May 24 fight card in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA that was supposed to be headlined by the Mike Perez-Bryant Jennings Heavyweight encounter. Perez suffered a shoulder injury in training, which forced him off the match up.
Geale was originally offered a Golovkin fight earlier this year. But Team Geale had to turn down the proposed April encounter because there would have been no Australian TV broadcast on the proposed date of the fight. But this time around, the circumstances have changed and the stakes look higher. The injury to Perez could be a blessing in disguise for Geale because the Golovkin bout will be the bigger and more meaningful fight for him.
Conspiracy Theory
On the other hand, Matthew Macklin insinuated a conspiracy theory in a series of tweets. Macklin claims that the real reason behind the shelving of the May 24 Texas card is the need for a quality July 19 opponent for Gennady Golovkin. Golovkin was slated to fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., but that bout is now off due to a dispute in the contract extension of Chavez.
So with time running out in getting a willing replacement foe, HBO according to Macklin, allegedly pulled off a heist by conniving with K2 Promotions and Gary Shaw to steal Geale for Golovkin. K2 promotes both Golovkin and Mike Perez while Gary Shaw is the promoter of Jennings and Geale.
But despite Macklin’s claims, signing Daniel Geale to fight Golovkin is the closest thing to getting a title defense for GGG. It’s barely two months before the scheduled July 19 HBO PPV event and there would be few boxers who would take a fight on such a short notice. Those few would turn to rare, especially since they would be fed to a hungry lion like Golovkin. But Geale is no piece of meat waiting to be devoured by a lion. He is a former world champion. But whether Geale has enough goods to topple a powerhouse like Golovkin is another story.
Still the Real Deal?
Geale is nicknamed the Real Deal because he is a former three time middleweight champion. He first won the lesser known IBO middleweight belt in 2007. He won the IBF title on May 2011 via a split decision win over German Sebastian Sylvester. Geale added the WBA (Super) Middleweight belt after narrowly outpointing another German, Felix Strum via split decision last Sept 2012. Geale lost the title last year to Briton Darren Barker by split decision.
Geale has a record of 30-2 with 16 KO’s but at age 33, he may no longer be the real deal in middleweight boxing. Not especially against a freight train like Golovkin.
Appetite For Destruction
In 29 professional fights, only two of Golovkin’s opponents have gone the distance while one retired at the end of round 2. The other 26 were consumed by Genady’s appetite for destruction.
Gennady Golovkin’s 89.65% knockout rate is frightening. He has the highest and greatest KO rate in middleweight boxing history. He has won eleven straight world championship bouts via knockout. In 375 bouts as an amateur and professional, Golovkin has never been knocked down.
A Hype Train?
But critics are calling Golovkin a hype train because of the lack of quality opposition. But the truth is that whether GGG is a hype train or not, he’s been destroying these fighters in front of him. So the other blue chip players In the 160 lbs division are always thinking twice about fighting a high risk and low reward opponent like Golovkin.
The other middleweight champions are Sergio Martinez (WBC), Felix Strum (IBF) and Peter Quillin (WBO). But none of them seem to be interested in fighting Golovkin. Each has come up with his own colorful reason to avoid a date with GGG. This was why Golovkin was willing to move up to 168 to face Junior. Chavez was supposed to be the biggest name Golovkin will have ever faced. Golovkin had already signed the contract to fight Julio Jr. so it just proved that Gennady isn’t afraid of anybody.
And so with Geale as the next probable opponent, Golovkin’s hunt for a big name victim will have to wait once more.
