By Allan Fox: Former IBF 160 lb. champion Daniel Geale (29-2, 15 KO’s) will be back in the ring next month in fighting Garth Wood (12-3-1, 8 KO’s) on February 19th in a scheduled 12 round bout at the Horden Pavilion, Moore Park, New South Wales, Australia. The 32-year-old Geale could have faced a tougher opponent, but he instead chose to fight someone that he could get sure thing victory in facing the 35-year-old Wood.
But this is also a fight for Geale’s domestic audience in Australia, because Wood is a well known Australian fighter with a previous 5th round stoppage win over Anthony Mundine in December of 2010. Mundine beat Wood by a 12 round unanimous decision in their rematch in April 2011.
“Wood is a dangerous and risky fight against a wild puncher,” Geale said to ESPN. “I have been training hard for my comeback fight…We needed a fight to keep active, and my management arranged it…I can’t wait to get back in there and pursue my journey to become a world champion again. I believe the plan is to fight GGG sometime in 2014.”
Geale hopes to get a fight against WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin this year. He had hoped to fight Golovkin in April, but HBO reportedly isn’t interested in that fight. They apparently are considering a bout between Golovkin and James Kirkland, which would be a much more entertaining fight than Golovkin-Geale. Kirkland is an aggressive fighter who will come straight at Golovkin; whereas with Geale, he’ll bounce around the ring for 12 rounds and turn the fight into a cat and mouse chase.
Geale lost his last fight against Darren Barker last August in losing by a 12 round split decision. It was a pretty definitive win by Barker, and you can’t really call it a close fight. Geale clearly lost the fight.
The Wood fight will be a confidence booster for Geale while also serving as a tune-up for him. I’m not sure if this is the type of fight that you can call a tune-up to get Geale ready for a fight against Golovkin, because Wood and Golovkin are nothing alike.
Geale would be better off not fighting Golovkin and instead going after IBF middleweight champion Felix Sturm. That’s a better fight for Geale, and he already beat Sturm by a 12 round decision two years ago in Germany. Geale would have a good chance of beating Sturm in a rematch no matter where the fight takes place. But against Golovkin, Geale will either get knocked out or badly out-pointed. He’d have to run from Golovkin to survive, and it wouldn’t be a pretty sight to see Geale running for 12 rounds. I don’t think it would increase his stature in losing a fight like that.
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