Boxing Preview: Miguel Cotto vs Daniel Geale Is This Saturday

The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York sees Miguel Cotto taking on Daniel Geale on Saturday, June 6th for the WBC World Middleweight title. The match has been agreed upon with a catch-weight of 157 lbs, and the line currently sees Cotto a solid (-650) favorite over Geale, who is returning at (+475). There is no over/under posted for this 12 rounder as of yet. Geale is a former long-time holder of the IBF World Middleweight title, and before that he held the minor IBO World Middleweight title, so he is an experienced Middleweight with a lot of experience. He captured the IBF belt in May of 2011 with a split decision win over Sebastian Sylvester in Germany, and he defended the belt four times over the next two years, including wins over rival Anthony Mundine and German stand-out Felix Sturm, whom he beat in Germany. He lost the belt in august of 2013 to Darren Barker, and he also lost a July of 2014 bid to take Gennady Golovkin’s WBA World title. Geale is now 34 and probably past his prime, but he must see this as a chance to get another world title for his resume, as for all intents and purposes, he is fighting a smaller man. Cotto (34-3) is also 34 years old, and he remains not only one of the biggest draws in boxing, he is still a top 15 level fighter skill-wise as well. The problem for him is that he has this Middleweight belt and he is not a Middleweight. In June of last year, Cotto filled Madison Square Garden up for a showdown with Argentina’s Sergio Martinez for the WBC Middleweight title. Martinez had finally become a big draw after years of toiling as one of the best fighters in the world. Cotto went into that fight a betting underdog in some places, but Martinez was a hobbled 38 year old near the end of his career, and Cotto was able to step up and take him out. Unfortunately this left him out of his weight class with a target on his back, and though his name has been bandied about for a showdown with Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, that superfight did not materialize and the fans are left with Geale as his opponent. The fight is set to air on HBO, so check back for additional lines on the undercard as well. This is Cotto’s first fight for Roc Nation Sports, as part of the reason for Cotto’s year long layoff was due to his changing promoters. The co-main event features Wilfredo Vasquez Jr. (24-4-1) in what is expected to be a tune-up fight and there are five other fights on the card, including massive Chinese Heavyweight (6’6, 260 lbs) Zhang Zhilei.

Written by Miguel

Leave a Reply

Opening Odds for Daniel Cormier vs Alexander Gustafsson and Chris Weidman vs Luke Rockhold

UFC Fight Night 68 Fight Breakdown: Derrick Lewis vs. Shawn Jordan