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Undefeated WBA middleweight kingpin Gennady Golovkin returns to the ring this evening at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden where he will face ex-IBF/WBA champion Daniel Geale.
For all the hype surrounding Golovkin, 29-0 (26), it’s a bit hard to know just how good he is as his competition, despite nine title defenses, hasn’t been top of the line.
Geale, 30-2 (16), is certainly a step in the right direction but will the Aussie be up to the task of upsetting the Kazakh born ruler of the middleweight division?
Geale holds victories over Anthony Mundine, Felix Sturm and Sebastian Sylvester but has also lost to Mundine and Darren Barker, although they were close spit decisions.
Despite the somewhat careful matchmaking, to be fair, Golovkin has shown that he is skill-wise far and above the opponents he has faced and that is probably an indicator that he’ll be too much for Geale as well.
The pair have actually faced each other before, with Golovkin winning a 2001 meeting on points.
There are many variables here but we won’t know how this one will play out until the bell rings.
For Geale to pull off the upset he’ll have to be on superb defensive form to avoid getting caught flush but he will get hit at some point and how he takes the punches is the key to this fight.
Golovkin isn’t used to opponents who can take his power and then come forward, forcing the champion to fight on the back foot.
Golovkin’s defense largely consists of his offense shutting down the ambitions of his opponent and we could see a very different fighter should Geale find an offensive groove and test Golovkin’s chin and defense.
None of this will matter however if Geale gets hit and can’t take the weight of the shots, a fate that has befallen so many of the victims of “GGG”.
