Miguel Cotto vs. Daniel Geale, set for June 6th in New York
DANIEL Geale has been given an unlikely opportunity to become the first Australian crowned as the lineal middleweight world champion.
Geale, 34, has signed to face WBC middleweight champion and future Hall of Famer Miguel Cotto on June 6th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Cotto, also 34, had spent the majority of 2015 in negotiations for a huge pay-per-view showdown with Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez. However, the fight fell apart in March, despite the Mexican having agreed to all the terms set by the Puerto Rican icon.
The WBC middleweight title and status as the lineal middleweight champion was earned by Cotto when he surprised many with a one-sided tenth round stoppage over Sergio Martinez last June.
@ben_damon @ausboxing Cotto is really confident at 160 isn't he? Needs Geale to sweat off an extra 3 pounds to feel comfortable. Pure Crap.
— Tom Gray (@Tom_Gray_Boxing) April 13, 2015
However, the four-division titleholder is generally seen by most a blown-up welterweight, having almost exclusively fought the entirety of his career between light welterweight and light middleweight.
While the announcement won’t be made official until tomorrow, the reaction from US media outlets has been almost all negative. Unified middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin has long campaigned for a fight with Cotto, as has the aforementioned Alvarez, but as of right now, Cotto has showed little interest in facing either.
The fight has been signed with a 157 pound catchweight. Depending on what view you adopt, this favours either Geale or Cotto. The heaviest Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) has ever weighed in at was 155 pounds, which he made comfortably for his debut at middleweight.
Contrastingly, Geale (31-3, 16 KOs) has campaigned as a fully fledged middleweight for the best part of eight years. Meaning the 157 pound catchweight will be the lightest Geale has weighed since his swan song at light middleweight – a near twelve round shutout over Lee Oti – where Geale was floored in the second round.
https://twitter.com/Old_Scores/status/587407089510649856
The Tasmania-born Geale is hoping to join fellow Australian Sakio Bika in winning a WBC world title at the Barclays Center. Bika earned that honour when he edged Marco Antonio Periban in 2013 to lift the vacant WBC super middleweight title.
It appears likely that Main Event pay-per-view will televise the fight in Australia, while US cable network giant HBO will televise the fight in the US.
The title defence against Geale will be Cotto’s first since winning the title and will also mark the first of three contracted fights with his new promoter Roc Nation Sports.
Photos: Getty Images
