Miguel Cotto mauls Daniel Geale in four round thrashing

 
A weight drained Daniel Geale offered little resistance to Miguel Cotto, falling in four one-sided rounds at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

 
The major talking point leading into the WBC middleweight title fight was the controversial 157 pound catchweight imposed by Cotto’s camp, despite the fight being for the middleweight championship.

 
A gaunt Geale, 34, made the necessary weight limit and cut a weakened figure at the weigh-in twenty four hours earlier. Although the Tasmanian stepped into the ring as a light heavyweight on fight night, it made no difference.

 
Cotto, also 34, was fighting for the first time in twelve months, making the first defence of the WBC middleweight title he famously took from a handicapped Sergio Martinez at Madison Square Garden.

 
Geale’s assumed size advantage counted for nothing as Cotto (now 40-4, 33 KOs) bullied Geale (now 31-4, 16 KOs) around the ring, flooring the former unified middleweight titlist twice in an impressive four round display.

 
https://twitter.com/HBOboxing/status/607425318161412096

 
The punch statistics compiled by CompuBox highlighted both Cotto’s dominance and Geale’s ineffectiveness, as Cotto landed 68 of 183 punches thrown while Geale landed a mere 33 of 127 punches.

 
“It (the fight) went too fast and I’m extremely disappointed,” said Geale to a media gathering post-fight. “I think the weight had an effect for sure, but that’s boxing. I signed the contract,”

 
“I have always struggled to make 160, so this was obviously much tougher.”

 
Having now been thoroughly beaten in his two biggest fights to date against both Golovkin and Cotto, it appears likely that Geale’s run as a consensus top ten fighter are now over.

 
Although Geale’s heart and fighting spirit can never be put into question, he has now voluntarily withdrawn himself from battle in two of his last three fights, albeit at the highest level.

 
Boxing is a brutal sport that is often unforgiving to those who reluctantly place themselves in the line of fire.

 
With his families financial security now secured along with two legimitate world title belts, Geale must seriously contemplate his next career move before signing to fight again.

 
 
Photo: Getty Images