Happy New Year to you all!
As we know it’s 2020 and the closing of another decade has occurred. The 2010’s was probably the best decade for Aussie boxing. Although 2009 in my opinion is easily the best year that Australian boxing has ever had, with Mundine v Geale 1, Danny Green’s epic one round knockout of Roy Jones Jr and many other greats achievements, the 2010’s is not without its charms and with easily the biggest achievements for Aussie boxers since the days of Kostya Tszyu in the 90’s and 00’s. In reflection of the last decade, I give you my Aussie boxer of the decade for the 2010’s, Daniel Geale.
Although worry contenders for the honour would be Sakio Bika, who in 2013 became the first and only Aussie boxer to become the WBC Super-Middleweight world champion, Sam Soliman who in 2014 became the IBF Middleweight champ at age 40 or even Jeff Horn, who gave us the upset of the century over Manny Pacquaio in 2017 for the WBO Welterweight title, it’s Australia’s best ever middleweight that gets it for me, Daniel Geale.
Geale started the decade in unfamiliar territory, with a loss on his professional record, after his narrow loss to Anthony Mundine in May of 2009,for Geale’s IBO World Middleweight title. Putting the loss behind him after another win in 2009, Geale started the decade for the 2010’s with stepping up to the Super-middleweight division with a victory over Kariz Kariuki for the vacant IBF Pan Pacific Super-Middleweight title. After that he returned to the middleweight division and in 2011 found himself in Germany challenging long time IBF Middleweight champ Sebastian Sylvester for his title. Sylvester was champ for two years and was in his fifth title defence.
Geale did what no Australian had done and very few had ever done to a German on home soil, the foreigner got the decision and the title. At the end of the fight Geale was given the split decision victory with the judges scorecards reading, 118-110 (Sylvester) 110-118, 112-118 both for Geale. The news shocked the boxing world and Australia celebrated their first ever middleweight world champion.
After a year and two successful title defences, in 2012, Geale went back to Germany in an attempt to unify his IBF title with Felix Sturm’s WBA Middleweight title. Again Geale would do the unthinkable and defeat the long time German champ on home soil for his title. Geale was given the split decision with two judges scorecards showing 116-112 for Geale and the other 116-112 for Sturm. Geale became the first Australian born boxer to unify world titles. No Australian boxer has repeated the same feat since.
Although stripped of his WBA title for refusing to fight number one contender Gennady Golovkin only a couple of months later, in January of 2013 Geale (still the IBF champ) would seek revenge against the only man to defeat him in the ring, Anthony Mundine. Despite Mundine hitting some pretty low blows in the build up to the fight with questioning Geale’s Aboriginal heritage, Geale dominated the rematch that was bigger than thier first fight and gave Mundine a boxing lesson. All three judges gave the fight to Geale after the final bell. It was the biggest domestic fight in Australia since Mundine v Green 1 in 2006.
His next fight was a somewhat controversial and disappointing loss to Brit Darren Barker, despite Barker being knockdown in round six, Geale lost the IBF title via split decision, but he biggest fight of his career was yet to come.
After a rebound fight in early 2014, in July of 2014, Geale would be the first and only Australian to headline a Mainevent fight night at the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. It would be an attempt for Geale to regain two of his world titles the IBO and WBA Middleweight titles, against the man he refused to fight in 2012 and fought as an amateur Gennady Golovkin.
Golovkin knocked out Geale in three rounds and sent him back to the drawing board. But again in 2015, world titles came knocking. Almost a year after the Golovkin fight in June of 2015, Geale was given the opportunity to fight multi-time and division fighter Miguel Cotto for his WBC Middleweight title.
Geale would again fall short to the champ via a fourth round stoppage but in his corner would be the next Aussie fighter to challenge for the same title, Dennis Hogan.
Geale’s final fight in October 2016, was a disappointing second knockout to Renold Quinlan for the vacant IBO Super-Middleweight title.
Despite Geale’s career heading in a slow decline after its highest point in 2012 and Geale having more losses than wins since the Mundine rematch, no other Australian boxer has even come close to what Geale achieved in the ring.
Being the only Aussie fighter to unify titles in the middleweight division, headline a main event at Madison Square Garden and compete for or own the big three titles in boxing, WBC, WBA and IBF, Geale is a head above the rest for the 2010’s and gets my fighter of the decade.