By Rob Soucy
Every time a big fight rolls around I take part in RingTV.com boxing insider’s prediction poll run by Lem Satterfield. I mention it because this week 21 out of 23 boxing writers picked Gennady Golvkin to win by knockout. However, I believe Golovkin is the most overrated fighter in the sport because he frequently shows up on top 10 pound-for-pound lists without having scored one significant win in his career. With that said, I think his boxing skills are a tad underrated because of his punching power. To sum it all up, I believe that GGG is a complete fighter and the best middleweight in the world.
So does Daniel Geale have any shot of derailing the GGG Express? Well it won’t be easy to say the least.
Geale, who is fighting in the U.S. for only the second time, will have to find a way to neutralize Triple G’s hellacious punching power. Not only does Geale have to avoid getting blasted with anything significant, especially early, but he has to open up enough to win rounds. That is easier said than done especially after getting hit by arguably the biggest puncher in boxing.
Punchers like Golovkin tend to make their opponents gun-shy after a few rounds, which could easily be the case Saturday night. Geale is going to have to disrupt Golovkin and try to make him uncomfortable because so far in his career Golovkin has been machine-like without having had much resistance. Golovkin will fight the same way he does every time out and with the same no-nonsense approach and intimidating demeanor. Geale has enough experience at the top level and doesn’t figure to fold like Mathew Macklin did. I also don’t expect to see the same fear in Geale’s eyes that I saw in the eye’s of Macklin in their 2013 bout at Foxwood’s Casino.
Geale is going to have to use his legs and stay out of Golovkin’s wheelhouse as much as possible. He understands that he needs to pick his spots to stand in front of Golovkin. His jab could be the key between an early night and a competitive fight. I can see Geale employing a similar game-plan to the one Chris Algieri used to upset Ruslan Provodnikov. Geale isn’t known as a puncher but he does have decent pop and Golovkin has never been hit by a world class fighter.
I don’t believe that there is anything that Geale does better than Golovkin nor do I give him much chance to win. However, I don’t expect Golovkin to steamroll Geale like most other boxing pundits. I feel that Geale will be fairly competitive early and some close rounds will result. I think GGG wins convincingly but also believe Geale will survive and go the distance.
