New York City’s famous Madison Square Garden will host the return of Kazakh fighting machine Gennady Golovkin this coming Saturday (July 26, 2014) as he takes on Danny Geale in defense of his IBF and WBA World Middleweight titles. Golovkin, whose bludgeoning attack saw him win multiple ‘Fighter of the Year’ awards in 2013, is a huge (-1165) favorite over Geale, who returns at (+750) at the Several Bookmakers. Golovkin is returning to the ring for the first time since February 1st of this year. Shortly after that bout, Golovkin’s father passed away, leading to the cancellation of an April match while ‘Triple G’ mourned with his family. Golovkin has been a runaway train, winning 16 straight fights by KO or TKO, and few question that he is on his way to the big time of boxing and that Geale is just a stepping stone. Golovkin himself was in the press talking about a potential November return to Madison Square Garden for a showdown with Miguel Cotto, or a super showdown against Mexican Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez Golovkin is considered on a collision course with greatness, so Geale is only a bump in the road, with potential overconfidence by Golovkin being the biggest ring. For his part, Geale is a solid 30-2 overall and he has won a world championship under adverse conditions when he went to Germany and walked out with hometown favorite Felix Sturm’s Middleweight titles. Though Geale was sent to the canvas several times in his earlier career, he always recovered, and he has overcome that and he has earned a reputation as a sturdy fighter when his competition level increased. Though he hasnt scored a stoppage since 2010, he sent the equally rugged Darren Barker to the canvas in a match he eventually lost. Geale is a solid fighter who is tough to look past, and as a real vet of the fight game, he is likely to be motivated and indignant over people giving him little chance in the fight. But come fight time, Geale’s indignation and motivation are unlikely to do him any good. Putting Geale down as not being a challenge to Golovkin or installing Golovkin as a 10 to 1 favorite do not credit Geale for the skills he does have. At the end of the day, Golovkin is a more than a hype machine. He is a more skilled, more refined boxer than Geale, and he just has to let that show over the course of twelve rounds and he will win. The body blows will add up for Geale and it will be inevitable that he will slow down. Whether Geale can stop GGG’s streak of 16 stoppages in a row may be worth looking at, but Golovkin by KO/TKO is the most likely outcome.
