Daniel Geale Interview: "We'd love to fight Sergio Martinez"
 By Anson Wainwright (Sept 27, 2012) Doghouse Boxing (Photo © Martin Meissner)
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Whilst
recently attending the Sergio Martinez -V- Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. WBC middleweight
title fight, I ran into a very interesting observer, Daniel “The Real Deal”
Geale, who was just a few weeks removed from the biggest night of his career
when he headed to Germany and unified the WBA title with his IBF crown. Here’s
what he had to say…
Anson
Wainwright - Firstly I’d like to congratulate you on your recent terrific win
over Felix Sturm to unify the IBF and WBA middleweight titles. Could you tell
us about that?
Daniel Geale – Thanks. Yeah, glad to
be here. We went over to Germany expecting a tough fight. We knew fighting a
champion like Felix was going to be tough, especially we knew if it came down
to the decision, in most cases, it would be tough to win but I put a lot of
faith in my management. We have a great team. I’m with Gary Shaw. I knew the
playing field would be kept as even a possible. I only had to go there and do
my job. Throughout the fight, I felt I had the upper hand; I was stronger
throughout. I caught him a lot and hurt him a lot of times. I felt the scoring
was fair and I won the fight.
AW
- What was going through your mind when it had gone the distance and you were
waiting for the scorecards?
DG - I guess going out there when
they announced the decision, I was very confident. I asked my corner what they
thought and Gary actually said, “You won the fight but don’t be surprised if
you don’t get it.” I was very confident and my coach was happy with the way I
performed. I felt like they shouldn’t be able to take it off me. We were
extremely happy; they awarded the right decision and we would definitely have
been disappointed. You could look at Sturm and tell he was the loser that
night; he wasn’t looking the best. I felt pretty good.
AW
- While people speculate on your next move, you’re now the middleweight to
watch. What would you like to do next?
DG –Yeah, for us, the reason we’re in
Las Vegas, we’re having a look at the winner (Martinez). We’d love to fight the
winner; there’s a lot of other stuff that has to happen. There’s big talks
about a fight with [Gennady] Golovkin we’re keen about as well. At this stage,
we’re definitely looking at Martinez. I’m pretty happy with whatever happens. We
have lots of people knocking on the door, lots of options. We have to take our
time and make the right decision. That’s all I want.
AW
- Outside looking in, it would seem that a fight in Australia in front of your
home fans would be good. There are, after all, several options.
DG - Definitely, I love fighting in
Australia. Now especially after coming back the second time winning in Germany,
I think the people in Australia would come out and support me. It has been hard
in the past; people in Australia are a little funny about boxing. They’ve
followed Danny Green and [Anthony] Mundine for a lot of years but they never
really fought too many well-known high ranking fighters, fighting anybody and
getting a crowd, so it’s hard to crack into that market. Whereas around the
world, we’ve sort of made our mark on things and I believe, at this stage, I’m
in a position that I feel I have to travel. I have to fight in other countries
to make a name for myself.
AW
- Over the past few weeks, the middleweight division has been pretty hot. What
are your thoughts on the 160-pound division?
DG - Yeah, well, for me, it’s
exciting; the middleweight division is very exciting. There are some great
fighters around. What I like about it is a lot of the top fighters are willing
to fight each other. It hasn’t been the case in the past; a lot of great fighters
don’t fight each other. Sorting out who’s the best, that’s the way I think it
should be; that’s what I’ve said all along. People in Australia listened to me
but I don’t think heard me when I said I want to fight the best and now they’re
seeing that it was the truth and I’m willing to travel. But I just hope it
keeps going; I hope we can secure the big fights.
AW
- Tell us about your Las Vegas experience?
DG - It’s all exciting in Las Vegas;
it’s my first time here, so it’s pretty big. I have travelled the world a fair
bit but Las Vegas is in a league of its own. It’s great to have this experience
and go to Chavez-Martinez; I can get an idea how things are run, how things are
set up. It seems everything is done really well over here. I guess the biggest
thing I really enjoy here is people love their boxing in the States. It’s a bit
lower in Australia; other sports get a lot more attention. In America, it’s a
big talking point. I’m really excited; I want to get over here and fight.
AW
- When you leave Las Vegas and what will you be doing?
DG - We’re in Las Vegas on business.
Then we’re heading to Anaheim [California] with the family to Disneyland and
spend a bit of time before heading back to Australia. It’s exciting; my family
has never been out of Australia before. Like I was saying, Las Vegas is huge
for me and I’ve travelled the world. For them, it’s unbelievable, something
they’ll remember for the rest of their life.
AW
- Though it’s still very early days, do you have a working date to when you’re
looking at fighting next?
DG - We haven’t secured anything but
we’re looking most likely early in the New Year. I said before the Sturm fight,
I’d love to be in there before the end of the year but things slipped away. I
came here for this fight; I guess [that] puts me back a little bit. I think now
we’re looking at early next year. Hopefully we can secure something big.
AW
- Did you get a hero’s welcome when you got back to Australia?
DG – No, there was a bit of a
reception at the airport. I arrived at 11.30 at night. There wasn’t too many
[fans], mostly friends and family but there was some there which was really
nice. I guess the first few days after I arrived home, I was doing the media
thing; I was doing interviews and shows, things like that which was pretty
similar to last time we got back from Germany. It’s not huge news in Australia;
it does get some news. I’m not forgotten when I arrive back in Australia. If I
had just won the IBF/WBA middleweight titles, coming back to America, I think
it would be a lot different. In Australia, it isn’t massive waves. Hopefully
the more I can win, it’ll lift boxing in Australia and people can realise I am
doing something, something important and hopefully boxing as a whole lifts a
little bit.
AW
- Do you have anything you’d like to say in closing?
DG - I guess my message to people is
I’m still as hungry now as I was before I went to Germany the first time and
before I won any titles. I’m still very, very hungry. I’ve got two titles now
so that gives us a lot more bargaining power but I’m still willing to fight
people as long as management says that’s the right thing to do, the right move.
I’m willing to fight anybody. We’re really happy to be in this position but, at
the same time, I want more titles and I want to fight the best.
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