By Ian Aldous: On 7th May 2011 Australian Daniel Geale (25-1) traveled to Germany and beat Sebastian Sylvester (34-4-1) by unanimous decision to capture the IBF World middleweight championship. This week he took the time to answer the following questions.

How pleased were you with your performance in the fight with Sebastian Sylvester in Germany?

“I was very pleased with my fight in Germany. I knew I had to go over there and have the perfect fight, I knew I couldn’t make any mistakes! It could have been taken off me somehow so I had to be careful.”

How surprised were you when you heard that judge Berit Andreasen had scored the fight 118-110 in favour of Sylvester yet the two other judges scored 118-110 and 118-112 in your favour?

“It was a little surprising and very scary before they announced the last score but I had a little idea about things before they announced the decision, because I kept looking to Sylvester’s corner and they looked very disappointed so that gave me confidence.”

How was the training camp going into the biggest fight of your life?

“It was a great training camp, my coach Graham Shaw got me in the condition of my life, we also had great sparring partners.”
Also, how was the fact that this was your first fight outside Australia?

“Well, I have fought a lot in the amateurs outside of Australia so it wasn’t that big of a deal to me, I knew the crowd was not going to bother me. If anything they would make me push even harder.”

When are we likely to see you next in action? Do you have any fights lined up?

“I am fighting on the 31st of august in Hobart against Eromosele Albert (24-4-1) for the IBF title. I’m just training hard now preparing for that.”

The only loss of your career came in a split decision loss to fellow Australian, Anthony Mundine. Is this a rematch that you’re looking for now that you’re IBF champion? It would be a huge fight for your homeland.

“That could be a fight we look at down the track a little. Mundine hasn’t been boxing the greatest over the last 18 months so I guess it depends on his next few fights.”

Where do you see yourself in the middleweight rankings, as opposed to the other champions in the division? Felix Sturm (WBA), Julio Cesar Chavez (WBC) and Dmitry Pirog (WBO) and not forgetting Sergio Martinez!

“I definitely see myself up there with all of those guys, it would be great if at some stage if I could fight all of those guys as I think they would be all great fights.”

Don’t forget to check out the official website of Daniel Geale: www.danielgeale.com.au