A potential storyline that has developed in recent times in
the sport of Boxing has been one involving three fighters who may indeed face
each other in the near future. Saul Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin, and Miguel
Cotto. Following his victory over James Kirkland on May 9th, Alvarez expressed
interest in moving up in weight from the 154lb. Jr. Middleweight division to
the 160lb. Middleweight division to face either current WBC world champion Cotto
or current unified WBA/IBO world champion Golovkin.
Golovkin meanwhile stated following his title defense over
Willie Monroe Jr. on May 16th that he wants further unification in the
Middleweight division. This would theoretically open the possibility of a
unification bout with Miguel Cotto at some point in the near future. With both
Alvarez and Golovkin successful in their recent bouts the stage is now set for
Cotto to make the first defense of his WBC world championship against former
two-time Middleweight world champion Daniel Geale on Saturday, June 6th at the Barclays
Center in Brooklyn, New York.
In his last fight Cotto scored a tenth round stoppage of WBC
Middleweight world champion Sergio Martinez in what was a dominating
performance. Now almost exactly one year later Cotto prepares to defend that
title in what will be his second fight in the Middleweight division. The
four-division world champion Cotto will face what could be a difficult opponent
in the form of Daniel Geale.
Geale, the former two-time Middleweight world champion has
been one of the top fighters in the division for several years having defeated
fighters such as Anthony Mundine, Sebastian Sylvester, and Felix Sturm among
others. Geale however, suffered the first knockout loss of his career in July
of last year when he was stopped in three rounds by Gennady Golovkin. Geale hit
Golovkin with a flush right hand to the head, but was dropped by Golovkin’s own
right hand after absorbing Geale’s punch. Geale was able to beat the count, but
was unable to continue. Geale was able to bounce back from his defeat at the
hands of Golovkin by scoring a twelve round unanimous decision over Jerrod Fletcher
in December of last year.
Although Geale was stopped by Golovkin, he is a world-class
boxer who is known for his ability to throw his punches in volume as well as
his solid lateral movement. In his bout against Golovkin, Geale was able to have
some success in the opening round in being able to disrupt Golovkin’s rhythm.
He was unable however, to maintain distance between himself and Golovkin and
could not land anything to discourage him from pressing forward. There may be
some who may believe that Geale’s fight against Cotto could have a similar
outcome due to Cotto’s ability to apply consistent pressure and gradually break
down his opponents.
The key to this fight in my eyes will be whether Geale can
establish himself as an elusive target and negate Cotto’s pressure and ability
to land power punches. Although Cotto is a boxer/puncher and capable of
adjusting his fight plan as a fight progresses, I believe that he will look to
apply pressure on Geale from the outset, look to neutralize Geale’s movement
and gradually break him down. If Cotto is intent on pressuring Geale from the
opening bell, he must not let up as the fight progresses.
If this fight has close rounds where both fighters are able
to be effective, Geale is the kind of fighter that is capable of winning close
rounds if he can get his punches off first and use his elusiveness to evade his
opponent. If Cotto can negate Geale’s movement however, the advantage will be
in his favor. Cotto does have an advantage in terms of punching power as he has
compiled a near 75% career knockout percentage in forty-three professional
fights, scoring thirty-two knockouts in thirty-nine career wins as compared to
Geale’s 47% having scored sixteen knockouts in thirty-one career wins, in
thirty-four professional fights.
Although Cotto was able to dominate Sergio Martinez and
scored four knockdowns in that fight, it will be interesting to see if Cotto’s
punching power remains consistent as a Middleweight as compared to when he was
fighting as a Jr. Welterweight, Welterweight, and Jr. Middleweight. It will be
of equal interest to see whether or not Cotto will look to make a statement in
this fight in facing a fighter that Gennady Golovkin was able to stop in three
rounds.
Per Cotto’s victory over Martinez, a fighter widely
considered at the time to be the number one fighter in the Middleweight
division and Gennady Golovkin’s fourteen successful defenses of his unified
world championship and his knockout streak, which currently stands at twenty,
there is little doubt that Cotto and Golovkin are the two top fighters in the
division. Golovkin however, could be considered the number one fighter in the
division in the opinion of some due to the length of his title reign as well as
his current knockout streak.
If Cotto is looking to defeat Geale in an even more decisive
manner than Golovkin was able to do and is too intent on looking for a knockout
and lets Geale establish an offensive rhythm by throwing punches in volume and
allows Geale to win what could be considered close rounds, Geale is capable of
pulling off an upset. Geale was able to defeat former longtime Middleweight
world champion Felix Sturm in 2012 in a fight that some considered an upset. Geale
finds himself once again in the role of underdog in this fight as he was
against Sturm and against Golovkin.
With potential fights against Saul Alvarez and Gennady
Golovkin possibly awaiting the champion Cotto should he win this fight, we will
see if he can do what Alvarez and Golovkin were able to do in their recent
bouts defeat a determined opponent that stands across the ring from him. We
will see what happens when Cotto and Geale square off on Saturday night.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison
All Rights Reserved.
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