Daniel Geale Ready To Unify Then Come To The US

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    (May 27, 2009 – Source: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images AsiaPac)

    On September 1st IBF Middleweight champion Daniel Geale will attempt to unify titles when he meets WBA Middleweight champion Felix Sturm live from Oberhausen, Germany. Geale (27-1) is on a 6 fight win streak after suffering his only career loss at the hands of Australian Middleweight Anthony Mundine.

    Geale was a guest on ThaBoxingVoice.com’s radio show this past week and spoke about many topics including his up and coming unification bout against Sturm. The Australian Geale spoke candidly about the way American fans perceive overseas fighters like himself and the notion that they remain untested until they open themselves up to broader competition, specifically that of American talent.

    “I have been wanting to come to the US for a while, unfortunately through my management, the fights haven’t come up for me at this stage. We mainly been [fighting] in Australia and Germany. I think there will be a time where I come to the US to fight, but at this stage it’s hard for [Americans] to really understand unless they see me live. It’s hard for them to take notice if I’m not [in America], I can’t wait to get over there and show the US people what I’m about. I think my style is very entertaining and I come to fight,” Geale said.

    The fact that Geale isn’t fighting his next fight in America is no knock on him because the fact is this fight is taking place in Sturm’s home country of Germany. Sturm has fought his last 18 of 19 fights in Germany, ever since he suffered a controversial unanimous decision loss at the hands of Oscar De La Hoya back in 2004. In fact, many have criticized Sturm for not fighting outside of Germany and tempers really started to flare after Sturm received a questionable split-decision victory against Matthew Macklin in a fight many felt should have gone the other way. In Sturm’s very next fight he fought to a Draw with Martin Murray and the uproar continued due to the fact many felt that it was the second fight in a row Sturm should have lost. Needless to say, if Geale-Sturm goes to the scorecards then the judges could play a big factor in the fight once again.

    “I had Murray slightly ahead. [Sturm-Macklin] was pretty even, but it’s sort of hard to give it to Sturm. [Sturm] is very good at what he does, but the decisions tend to lean his way and we do understand that. The thing that we have is we’re not going over there just fighting for his title, we’re going over there with a title as well, and I got the IBF behind me. Obviously it’s in his home town, but I’m very young and I’m very hungry. He’s had a lot of defenses especially in Germany, but I’ve won in Germany before and it’s about time that WBA title left Germany,” Geale said.

    Sturm is the WBA’s Super Champion. Golovkin is the WBA “regular” champion and if Geale were to win the WBA title against Sturm, then it stands to reason Golovkin would make a formidable opponent. Golovkin is getting a reputation as the most avoided fighter at 160lbs; in fact, there were rumors that Sturm would vacate his title before facing Golovkin, who appears to be too high-risk, low-reward for fighters at this point. The question is does Geale want that fight?

    “It’s hard to say, it’s a decision for management. I’m at the stage where I’m willing to fight anybody, if my management believes we can get X amount of dollars fighting somebody then I’m happy to do that. We haven’t been out there in the past to take the biggest paydays, for me, it is sometimes more about the fights and if people want to see that fight [against Golovkin] I’ll be more than happy to do that, it comes down to the public and what they want to see. I want to come to the US and I want to fight over there and I want to fight some of the good [US] fighters. I’d love to bring both titles [to the US] in my next fight,” Geale said.

    Geale spoke about the specifics of his management and promotional team, as well as the difficulties with overseas management/promotional teams negotiating fights in the US. 

    “At this stage it’s all still sort of pending, we’re always in discussions. I’m very happy with my management team; they’re doing a great job by me. I’m not willing or ready to leave my management team. We’re all on very good terms it’s just a matter of making sure we fight the best fighters in the world.”

    “We have Gary Shaw doing a lot of stuff for me as well. He’s negotiating possible fights in the US and he has been doing that in the past, we’re hoping that after this fight that will happen but we’re focused on Sturm at the moment,” Geale said.

    Geale weighed in on the HBO PPV middleweight showdown between Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

    “It’s going to be a great fight, I’ve watched a lot of both fighters and it will be very interesting. Chavez is going to be very strong and definitely try to dictate what happens, but Martinez has got the skills and the speed, he’s got the footwork as well to try and unsettle Chavez. If Chavez can cut the ring off and keep Martinez where he wants him then the fight can be a lot easier [for him]. I sort of lean towards Martinez for the fact he’s got great speed and there are not too many guys at 168lbs that can do much damage [to Chavez] because he’s a tough guy, but Martinez does have that kind of power,” Geale said.

    One of the underlining storylines in Martinez-Chavez is the drug testing issue and the fact that the fighters won’t be using Olympic-style drug testing, even after the fact Chavez has failed to give samples in his last 2 fights, although Texas might be just as much to blame for those indiscretions. It has been said by Martinez himself that if he were to have demanded Olympic drug testing then the fight with Chavez wouldn’t have gotten made. Geale spoke decisively about the issue of PED’s in boxing.

    “I believe there are rules set in place for a reason, we’re all under these rules because the authorities want to make boxing as clean as possible. I see some fighters not willing to take these tests, to me that seems like there is a problem. I feel that if they don’t want to take the test then they have something to hide. I say, take the test. I’ve proved for a long time that I have nothing to hide; I’ll take any test anybody wants. It’s not going to bother me because I’m clean, I don’t do anything wrong, I [work hard],” Geale said.

    Geale finished the interview by talking about his intentions for the Sturm fight and whether or not he will be looking to put Sturm away early to avoid the judges’ scorecards.

    “My mindset in every fight is not go out there for a knockout, for me, I believe knockouts come at a particular moment. Sometimes you can’t make them happen, sometimes they just happen. I don’t believe you go into a fight just with that in mind; you have to be able to create it. If a knockout comes I’m going to be very, very happy about that because I do want to take it out of the judges’ hands. I can’t go in there with the idea of knocking him out, he’s definitely too skilled a fighter. Sturm is a fighter that in the past has been very hard to even hurt. If I don’t get a knockout I’ll still beat him on points.”

    Geale is currently ranked 2nd in the middleweight division by Ring Magazine, only behind Sturm (ranked 1) and Martinez (Ring Champion). He is, however, ahead of both Chavez Jr. and WBO champion Dmitry Pirog. If Geale can defeat Sturm come September 1st it will be his biggest victory to date and enable him into the driver seat for bigger fights to come.