Gennady Golovkin KO's Daniel Geale in 3 - Triple G the Real Deal at MSG

"Real Deal" Geale goes out on his shield in 3 vs GGG

NEW YORK  — Perhaps Gennady Golovkin should consider moving to the Big Apple, or at least investing in some prime real estate. New Yorkers have readily taken to the WBA middleweight champion. Fighting at Madison Square Garden on HBO for the third time in six fights, the power-puncher brought the city that never sleeps to its feet Saturday night with his seventeenth consecutive knockout. "The Tyson effect," is how K2's Tom Loeffler described it at the post-fight press conference. With an anticipated crowd too large to be held in the smaller Garden Theater, the decision was made to have MSG's main arena (the big room) scaled down to a 9,000 seating capacity. With a turnout crowd of more than 8,500–the promotion was definitely a success, an indication that the unbeaten power puncher's fan base is growing.

As Kazakhstan boxing fans proudly waved their flags, the anticipation for the main event steadily increased. In fact, the mere sight of "GGG" on the giant screen drew loud cheers from the pro-Triple-G crowd. Perhaps unaware of Daniel "Real Deal" Geale's personal issues back home Down Under (the Australian fighter dedicated the fight to his mother who was diagnosed with cancer) Geale would be greeted with loud boos, a sharp contrast to Golovkin's entrance into the ring, like that of a knockout king.

It was a game of cat-and-mouse in the opening round, with Geale darting left-and-right, while looking for counter punching opportunities. Golovkin's first big punch, a sneaky lead right hand, drew oohs from the crowd. Geale did land a right hand to the body, and a left hook to the head, but Golovkin didn't blink. Golovkin landed a heavy jab, as well as a nice left hook right cross combination. In an opening round that would last four minutes long, Geale went down without a punch, thanks to a lazy camera man who left his camera strap dangling in the ring on the apron. The WBA champion increased the pressure in the second, but Geale made him miss often. But he also paid the price, as he expended a lot of energy to do so. A left hook to the body by Golovkin, followed by a right cross put Geale on his bicycle. Finally, a solid left hook, followed by a glancing right hand dropped Geale for the first time. The crowd erupted as Geale picked up the referee's count.

The scariest middleweight in the world

Uncharacteristically, Golovkin did not go to the body after he had his opponent hurt, and his punches went whistling over Geale's head. However, "GGG" did land a good right hand before the bell. Golovkin continued to miss some of his punches as he hunted his prey in the third, but he was narrowing the gap, as Geale's back got closer to the ropes. Suddenly, a straight right hand landed flush to the face of Golovkin, but the champion quickly countered with a right hand of his own off of his back foot, to the surprise of Geale, who did not get his own right hand back in time to defend himself. As Geale headed to the canvas for the final time, a left hook by Golovkin was added in for good measure.

As a totally beaten Geale tried to clear his head and stop stumbling, referee Mike Ortega indicated he'd seen enough. The time of the stoppage was 2:47 of the third round. "Is the knockout important?" asked Max Kellerman, minutes later in the ring. "The knockout is important, not just for me or for my team, but everybody. This is a show, a big drama show," he said. "This is my fighter style, like Mexican style. This is a fight, this is not games," added the champion. Golovkin 30-0 (27 KO's) mentioned linear world middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, Peter Quillin, and Sam Soliman as possible future opponents before leaving the ring.

Perez got docked a point by Harvey Dock

In the co-main event, referee Harvey Dock would become the main topic of discussion after the WBC heavyweight title eliminator between Bryant "By-By" Jennings and Mike "The Rebel" Perez. On paper, this should have been an exciting fight with Jennings being the better all around athlete, and Perez the more experienced boxer with extensive amateur experience. Although the fight wasn't  exactly pleasant to the eye, there would be momentum swings throughout. The fight started in favor of Perez countering Jennings, and his jab to the body and head was fairly effective. It wasn't all one sided. Jennings would have his moments, landing an occasional right hand to the body and head. "Embarrass him," instructed Adam Booth to Perez before the third. Jennings turned the tide in the next few rounds, as Perez was already breathing heavily. Jennings right hands to the body and head drew kisses blown from his opponent, but the Cuban now based in Ireland didn't receive any points for that. He did out hustle Jennings in the sixth, but the Philadelphian heavyweight slowly took over the next four rounds by beating Perez about the body with both hands and eye catching rights to the head. In the tenth, Perez stumbled from one of those right hands, after he got careless backing Jennings into a corner.

Also in the tenth, a nice right uppercut, and a temporary switch to southpaw won Jennings the round. The eleventh saw Perez step up with body shots, and move Jennings around the ring. With the fight fairly close, Perez lost a point in the final round for hitting Jennings on the break, but Perez fought back desperately trying to get the point back. Driving his fighter back with one two's mainly to the body, the round was even. Most in attendance felt Jennings won the fight, so there was a groan from the crowd when the first card of 114-113 by Tom Schreck was read in favor of Perez. However it was overruled by the scores of 114-113 and 115-112 by Glen Feldman and Joe Pasquale, respectively. Jennings won the fight on a split decision. Perez, whose record fell to 20-1 (12 KO's) left the ring, and was not seen the rest of the evening.

 GGG wants Cotto first and foremost

From pressrow on behalf of KO Digest, I scored it 114-113 in favor of Jennings.

At the post press conference, Jennings explained his fight plan. "I used my distance well, and I showed him I have an inside game. I made him do what I want to do," said the winner. "He didn't want to trade, which surprised me. Even though he was gassed, he was still tricky, because he didn't move his feet. I expected him to trade more, because I had more shit for him," laughed Jennings, whose record improved to 19-0, 10 KO's. The classy Geale 30-3 (16 KO's) was next. "Tough day at the office," the challenger cracked. He also stated the obvious. "You make a mistake with a puncher, especially one with good timing, you will pay." Finally it was Triple G's turn, and again he made reference to his "Mexican style" of fighting. Promoter Loeffler mentioned Cotto as a priority, and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Canelo Alverez as possible opponents. I did question the champion on his preparation for Geale's style of fighting. "Obviously, you prepared for his fighting style in camp. Did he surprise you at any time, or did it go as expected?" I asked. "No. In the first round, I looked at his tactics and strategy, in the second, it was my time," said the proud champion.

Images and Words by David McLeod - exclusively for KO Digest 

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