Jakarta, Indonesia – The World Boxing Association announced that Daniel Geale will be stripped of his “super champion” status and Gennady Golovkin is named as its sole WBA middleweight champion.
President Gilberto Mendoza made the declaration at the WBA’s 91st Annual Convention in Jakarta.
Geale won the WBA “Super Champion” title when he unified the WBA and IBF titles by winning a decision over existing WBA “Super Champion” Felix Sturm on September 1 in Oberhausen, Germany.
However, because of Sturm’s long overdue mandatory obligation to Golovkin, the WBA declared the winner of Sturm/Geale bout must face the winner of Golovkin/Grzegorz Proksa by December 31.
Golovkin defeated Proksa by stopping him in the fifth round in a very impressive performance. Geale has since declined to face Golovkin announcing he will fight Anthony Mundine in January 2013 in Australia.“We commend the WBA for clearing up this long overdue situation and recognizing Gennady as their only champion in the middleweight division. Gennady is proud to be the WBA and IBO champion and looks forward to returning to the ring soon,” said Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions.
Geale had a great win over Sturm in Germany, however he soon joined many others in avoiding Golovkin. Geale turned down a potential lucrative fight against Golovkin on HBO to sign for the Mundine fight.
“We don’t blame Geale and his team for taking a safer fight. However, they knew the obligations they would have prior to the Sturm fight. Geale is still IBF champion and if he continues to win, this might be a great unification fight in the future.”
Golovkin (24-0, 21KO) made his highly anticipated HBO and U.S. debut on September 1, impressively stopping Grzegorz Proksa in the fifth round at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY.
Plans for Golovkin’s next fight will be announced shortly.
