Geale Deserves Better!

Last week I was asked, "how bloody good is Golovkin?" To which I replied, "I don't know!" My friend, knowing that I have followed boxing closely for over 40years... said, "What do you mean you don't know, didn't you watch the fight? He took Geale apart!" Holding back the urge to take him apart, I counted slowely to 5, thought about what I was going to say, then replied calmly... "No, he took apart an athlete who was only 85% prepared!"

Many people will take this the wrong way, including Daniel, if he was to read this comment, but before I elaborate on it, to calm his loyal supporters from smashing their screens and writing death-threats to me, their is something I will declare...

"Daniel Geale is in my opinion the most complete fighter to come out of this country, bar none!"

Many would start sprooking names like Fenech, Mundine, Green, Darchiniyan, Ellis, Michaels, Harding etc... some might even go as far back to legends like Rose, Mattiolli, Carruthers and Famechon... all great fighters and champions in their own right, but as far as the complete packackage, "Geale is the Complete Deal".

I had the pleasure of attending the Garth Wood fight with my good friend Dan Tranter who despite being a swimmer "by trade", he has spent a bit of time at the Gym where DG trains. After we watched Wood receive his masterclass from Daniel... DT, his father and I, went for a couple of drinks and to have a chat about the fight...

When asked what I thought, all I could say was, "thank god Daniel was nowhere near his best, it would have been a very early night!" Even though it was a emphatic win, I'm sure DG would agree that it took a fair while for him to find his range and his timing never really got to where it usually does. In fact, I felt DG was somewhat frustrated throughout the fight at his lack of sharpness. I would be very surprised if he didn't agree with me on that!

Dan told me that DG was looking for a title shot against Golovkin in the near future, to which I replied that... "I sincerely hope that he has another couple of fights before he does that!" Anyway, a month or so later, Dan told me it was goiung to happen and not to far down the track... Well, this news really angered me... as how many times have we seen good Australian talent, go up against their biggest ever challenge before they are ready?

This is where the biggest difference between Daniel Geale and Gennady Golovkin lies... not in their skills, not in their potential, not in the courage, but sadly... in the team around them!

I have no doubts that DG's team are good guys, fiercely loyal, devoted and have their hearts in the right place... but where was the person who needed to protect Daniel from his own fighting spirit? Daniel, like most fighters, would never walk away from a fight whether they knew they were ready or not... but in this case, he was going to be jumping in the ring with one of the best pound-for-pound fighters we have seen.

I know people will be angry at what I have said, but Daniel, his wife and kids... deserve to have someone looking out for him without emotion or lack of judgement putting him unnecessarily in that type of situation or danger.

I believe there is very little between Golovkin and Daniel... a hell of a lot less than what we saw, but DG needs to be 110% ready in all aspects... not 85%! In fact, I think in the short time the fight lasted... Daniel exposed some of GG's short-comings. Let's just hope that we get to see Daniel have another chance to exploit them.

Cheers Sutto

PS: "Its better to be prepared and not have an opportunity... than to have an opportunity and not be prepared!"