Geale would still beat Cotto

By Bob Smith - 07/26/2014 - Comments

gealeBy Bob Smith: I honestly felt bad for Daniel Geale when he decided to take the fight with Golovkin – this is the first time he would appear on the biggest of possible stages (with the exception of the MGM Grand) and he would not be given the credit he deserves as a fighter due to being obliterated by Golovkin.

I actually thought Geale would do better, and use movement to frustrate and tag Golovkin, which he did his best to do, but Golovkin got his KO in the 3rd round instead of the 8th or 9th as I expected.

How did Daniel Geale get knocked out so quickly? Well, the simple fact is that Golovkin packs heavyweight punching power in the middleweight division. It is worthwhile to let that fact sink in – so when there is an exchange and he gets tagged and Golovkin comes back with a fast counter, this is what happens. Again, I suspected that Daniel Geale would try to engage Golovkin at times, but even I didn’t expect the fight to end so quickly.

How does all of this relate to Miguel Cotto? I honestly don’t see a fight between Cotto and Golovkin ever taking place, especially after the display of Golovkin tonight – nor really should there be – Cotto is a hard nosed, hard punching welterweight who has done well as junior middleweight, and managed to peak at the right time as the former champion Sergio Martinez’s multiple injuries hampered his movement. Cotto is an excellent, HOF fighter, but not a natural middleweight in terms of size and body type. I could see him being outpointed by at least half a dozen fighters around his weight class, such as Lara, Martin Murray, Peter Quillin, Geale, Alvarez, or Andrade. Cotto has been in a lot of wars with Pacquaio, Margarito and others and at this point in his career, after having been the first PR fighter to win belts in four weight classes, it would be better to have a smooth downside and take big money fights against famous opponents like Alvarez or Bradley, rather than top tier and lesser known middleweights and junior middleweights like Lara or Geale.

So, all credit to Golovkin for an excellent win tonight, which in my opinion is his most impressive to date. Hopefully Geale can recovery physically and mentally from this bout, as he is still a top 6 middleweight who can give anyone other than Golovkin a great contest. But this fight shows the chasm between Golovkin and a fighter like Cotto, who would struggle with Geale and perhaps lose on points if Geale were at his best. Thus, for the sake of his health and legacy, Cotto should never fight Golovkin, and probably even avoid still-dangerous (assuming he recovers) middleweights like Geale.



Comments are closed.