Gennady Golovkin vs Daniel Geale Preview
By James Lopez, RCM LA Boxing Correspondent
New York, NY (July 25th, 2014)– Gennady Golovkin (29-0 KO’S 26) currently holds the highest KO ratio in Middleweight Championship history. Golovkin’s father was a Russian coal miner, and his mother worked as an assistant in a chemical laboratory. Golovkin was one of four brothers. He was pushed into boxing by two of his older brothers, Vadim and Sergey. Before Golovkin turned 14, Vadim and Sergey were both killed in action serving in the Russian army. He used his brother’s deaths as motivation to become the best boxer he can possibly be. He eventually went to the Olympic Games and won a silver medal. He finished his amateur career with an outstanding record of 345-5. This Saturday his opponent will be Australian’s Daniel Geale (30-2 KO’s 16).
Daniele Geale is a highly celebrated athlete in Australia. He is a former three time Middleweight Champion having won the IBF, WBA, and IBO titles. His only two losses consisted of highly disputed split decisions against Anthony Mundine and Darren Barker. Geale knows he is the underdog in this bout, but plans to pull off the upset in the biggest fight of his career thus far. Geale’s aggressive style and determination promises to deliver plenty of excitement this upcoming Saturday in Madison Square Garden.
Here is the Breakdown of the Fight.
Size Advantage
Gennady Golovkin stands at 5’10 with a 70 inch reach. Daniel Geale stands at 5’10 with a 71 inch reach. Despite the near identical stature of both fighters, Golovkin is expected to come in as the physically stronger fighter. This will make it difficult for Geale to impose his physical size on Golovkin when he pushes the fight in the inside which he often does.
Style
Gennady Golovkin is a boxer puncher. He fights coming forward, but does not put a lot of pressure in the early stages of the fight. Only time Golovkin really closes the gap is when his opponents begin to show signs of wearing down.
Daniel Geale is a volume puncher who prefers to fight coming forward. Geale fights in multiple spurts and will certainly be the one pushing the action early in the fight.
Combinations
Gennady Golovkin picks his shots very well. He knows how to use a stiff jab to disrupt his opponent’s offense, and a touch jab to set up his combinations. He uses his jab early in the fight to have his opponent conscious of that particular punch, when the opponent gets comfortable seeing the jab Golovkin tends to sneak in a left hook. Golovkin also does a good job getting through his opponent’s high guard with hard body shots, and hooks around the tight defense. At times Golovkin does not commit to every punch when throwing a combination; the reason being is to set up a big shot at the end of a combination. He typically uses this tactic when he has his opponent against the ropes.
Daniel Geale does his best offensive work when coming forward. He hasn’t shown the ability to have an effective offense while fighting off his back foot. Geale will be trying to fight his fight in close range and throwing a volume of short hooks to the body and the chin. His biggest asset is outworking his opponent in multiple spurts throughout the rounds.
Defense
Gennady Golovkin has good defense as a result from his outstanding amateur pedigree. He can be caught with a few good punches, but it’s very difficult to outpoint Golovkin in the center of the ring. This was evident in the Olympic Games where he managed to outpoint the very fast Andre Dirrell.
Daniel Geale’s defense is not as polished as Golovkin. Geale has the tendency to stay in close range for too long after throwing a combination leaving himself susceptible for his opponent to retaliate with his own shots. Despite this Geale does have defensive success at times on the inside when he utilizes his head movement to weave under short hooks, and also when he pivots his front foot to give his opponent different angles.
Power and Chin
Gennady Golovkin has tremendous power in both hands as his record indicates. He has shown in recent fights to have a good chin. He was able to take shots from a good puncher such as Curtis Stevens without any problem. It will be difficult for Geale to hurt Golovkin.
Daniel Geale does not have knockout power, but is still a decent puncher. He was able to knockdown Darren Barker with a good body shot in the 7th round. Geale has shown to have a decent chin, but has never been in with an opponent who hits as hard as Golovkin.
Conclusion
Gennady Golovkin should come in as the heavy favorite to win this bout by late stoppage. He has the skills to outpoint Geale at the center of the ring, and enough firepower to overmatch Geale on the inside. If Geale is able to take Golovkin’s punches well, expect him to outwork Golovkin in certain times in the fight and steal rounds. Even if the bout does go the distance, Golovkin should still be favored to win.
Advance tickets priced at $500, $300, $200, $100, $50 and $25 are available at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008) and online atwww.ticketmaster.com and www.thegarden.com
For fight updates on GOLOVKIN VS. GEALE via Social Media, follow HBO Boxing on Twitter at@HBOBoxing and Facebook at /HBOBoxing, in addition to on Twitter at Gennady Golovkin/@GGGBoxing, Daniel Geale/@RealDealGeale, Tom Loeffler – K2 Promotions/ @TomLoeffler1and Gary Shaw Productions/@GaryShawBoxing. Use the hashtag #GolovkinGeale to join the conversation on Twitter.
For fight updates on JENNINGS VS. PEREZ via Social Media, follow HBO Boxing on Twitter at@HBOBoxing and Facebook at /HBOBoxing, Bryant Jennings on Twitter at @BYJennings, Tom Loeffler/K2 Promotions at @TomLoeffler1 and Gary Shaw Productions at @GaryShawBoxing. Use the hashtag #JenningsPerez to join the conversation on Twitter.
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