Greatest Hits: Daniel ‘The Real Deal’ Geale

 
QUIETLY spoken and at times unassuming, Daniel Geale has made a career out of being the underdog.

 
In a professional career that has spanned over the best part of a decade, Geale (31-3, 16 KOs) has unified the middleweight championship and scored several high-profile wins.

 
Ahead of the biggest fight of his career on Sunday afternoon against WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto in Brooklyn, we look at Daniel Geale’s greatest hits.

 
 
1. Anthony Mundine (44-4) January 30th, 2013

 
This was arguably the best performance of an already impressive body of work for Daniel Geale.

 
In Mundine, Geale was facing he only fighter to have previously defeated him and this time around, a wiser and more technically superior Geale retuned the favour in emphatic fashion.

 
Although Mundine did his best and provided great defensive durability and resistance, it was Geale that ultimately cruised to a wide points verdict in a rematch that was filled with bad blood.

 

 
2. Felix Sturm (37-2-2) September 1st, 2011

 
The fight against Felix Sturm was already as big as it could get for Daniel Geale.

 
Although he was seen as a protected species given his reluctance to fight abroad, winning a decision in Germany against the reigning WBA middleweight champion was always going to be a difficult task.

 
However, Geale kept his mightily impressive unbeaten record in Germany with a razor tight decision against the long reigning middleweight champion.

 
Although Geale was almost immediately stripped of his status as the unified WBA/IBF middleweight champion, Geale proved that he was one of the most credible titleholders in the division.

 

 
3. Sebastian Sylvester (34-3-1) May 7th, 2011

 
This was supposedly the acid test for Daniel Geale.

 
The outsiders saw the Tasmanian-born Geale as a relatively green prospect that had lost when he took his only real step up in opposition. They couldn’t have been more wrong.

 
Geale showed composure beyond his years and fought with an active work rate, perhaps noting that he had to steal the belt off the local in his homeland of Germany.

 
It was to be the first of two landmark wins in Germany for Geale, who is one of only a select few to have won two world titles in Germany, without facing a defeat.

 

 
4. Roman Karmazin (40-3-2) October 31st, 2010

 
Cagey Russian Roman Karmazin represented the final hurdle for Geale en route to an eventual shot at the IBF middleweight title.

 
With that in mind, Geale put together a virtuoso performance. Geale outworked Karmazin in all aspects of the fight before putting an exclamation point on an already impressive win.

 
Having only been halted once prior, Geale put his foot on the accelerator in the final round, launching a fierce flurries of blows that forced Pat Russell to halt proceedings.

 

 
5. Daniel Dawson (29-0) December 14th, 2007

 
A mouth watering matchup with Daniel Dawson was the first gauge on how good Daniel Geale would prove to be.

 
The previously unbeaten Dawson came into the fight with his confidence at an all-time high, having poleaxed credible amateur star Anton Solopov in a singular round one fight earlier.

 
Despite several postponements, the fight eventually took place at Wests Campbelltown and it proved to be a one-sided contest.

 
Dawson had no answers for the ring generalship of Geale and failed to land anything of note as Geale pitched a shutout on two of the three cards.

 

 
 
Photo: Getty Images