Geale wins battle of friendly fire, Carr outlasts Quinlan

 
IF Wednesday night’s unified regional title fight between Daniel Geale and Jarrod Fletcher proved anything, it’s that Australia boasts two world class middleweights and that Jarrod Fletcher isn’t one of them.

 
Geale, 33, survived a sluggish opening to put together a performance that was at times masterful in a fight that served as a must-win for the former two-time middleweight world champion.

 
The Sydney-based former WBA and IBF titleholder knew he had to make a statement against his long-time sparring partner Fletcher, 31, and though he didn’t score a knockout, he was still clearly the better man over twelve relatively one-sided rounds.

 
Judges Mick Heafey, Max Murphy and Ray Wheatley all rendered the same verdict, 119-108, giving Geale a near shutout decision and a career revitalising win in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Hordern Pavilion.

 
Fletcher (now 18-3, 10 KOs) started fast, trying to force Geale into a back-and-forth shootout. Eager to fight from close quarters, the Queenslander worked his way inside and repeatedly attacked Geale’s low guard with his trademark lead left – but aside from a glancing right hand – Fletcher found little success in terms of hurting Geale.

 
Despite a couple of fleeting flurries from Geale, it seemed that the accuracy and sheer work rate of Fletcher, who was accurate with his jabs, had stolen the first few rounds.

 
The fight was yet to take off until the fourth round, where Geale appeared to temporarily stun Fletcher with short sharp counters. Although Fletcher remained on his feet and fluid with his combination punching, it was clear by this point who the power-puncher between the two was.

 
One round later, Fletcher hit the deck off a powerful but short hook from Geale and his response – an expletive upon his arrival to the canvas – told the story of a frustrated man who perhaps figured the writing was on the wall.

 
While he still had the fighting spirit for the remainder of the fight, Fletcher did little to justify his presence in the second half of the fight. In a mixed show of sportsmanship and perhaps empathy, Geale refused to close the show, despite desperate pleas from his trainer Graham Shaw to do so.

 
Fletcher’s only chance to win the fight came from a sneaky right hand counter, which Geale ate well in the eleventh, but aside from that, Fletcher showed no real desire to win the fight, or even take the required risks on the inside to do so.

 
Simply put, there was nothing that Fletcher could do to turn the tide.

 
In the end, Geale (now 31-3, 16 KOs) was bigger, faster and clearly far too strong, doing as he pleased with a tired and worn Fletcher for the final four rounds.

 
IN the cards other notable title fight, Jake Carr weathered a brave challenge from the previously unbeaten Renold Quinlan, winning a tight unanimous decision in the third defence of his Australian super middleweight title.

 
At the conclusion of ten rounds, the judges scored the fight by razor thin margins of 96-95 (twice) and 96-94, all in favour of Carr.

 
Quinlan, 25, presented Carr, 23, with a great and determined challenge right from the opening bell and looked like he had done enough to steal the opening rounds.

 
The key for Quinlan (now 8-1, 4 KOs) was fighting effectively in spurts and tagging Carr (now 9-0, 3 KOs) with some solid lead right hands as well as the occasional uppercut, which landed flush several times.

 
Once Carr was able to establish his rhythm and avoid the lunging shots from Quinlan, he was able to outwork his challenger for the majority of the fight. The defending champion found himself tagged and bruised on a handful of occasions, but did well to rally back and steal some of the closely fought rounds .

 
In what was maybe a desperate plea to unsettle Carr, Quinlan switched to southpaw multiple times in the final two rounds. However, by that point Carr had started to take over and finished with a strong flourish of combinations.

 
It was the champion’s ability to outwork his challenger in close quarters that ultimately won him the fight.

 
Quinlan had never previously gone past eight rounds and it was Carr’s ability to close the show with a high work rate that ensured he was in front on the judges’ scorecards – albeit by the smallest of margins.

 
Post-fight, Quinlan had made his plans clear, making his intention to move down to middleweight known. In defeat, he won a lot of admirers and will definitely be better in the long run from the experience.

 
 
Full Results:
Daniel Geale UD 12 Jarrod Fletcher
Paul Gallen TKO 1 Anthony Watts
Jake Carr UD 10 Renold Quinlan
Mark Flanagan UD 10 Shane Quinn
Paul Ognedghbe KO 4 Nathan Reddy
Mark Lucas RTD 3 Travis Barton
Willis Meehan KO 1 Alofa Solitua
Trent Broadhurst UD 4 Yousef Kanan

 
 
Words: Brock Ellis
Photos: Louie Abigail/Matt King