I'm not a Mundine fan by any stretch of the imagination, but you need to be unbiased. A few points i will make - * Geale DOES NOT have a solid chin. Lets be perfectly honest here. Even though he is rated number 10 by ring magazine, Geale has not fought anyone who would be classed as being better than Journeyman level on the world scene. Geale has been dropped several times by several opponents throughout his career to date against very poor opposition. His last opponent was a joke opponent for Geale and although Geale probably won every rd McKinnon did drop Geale. * Fighting Anthony Mundine is a gigantic step up for Geale. Please explain how it is not ? Even though most on the forum hate Mundine we do respect his ability. Anthony is a million miles better than anyone Geale has ever fought. * You say Mundine's last fight was embarrassing and you are correct. Taylor was not going to be competitive, we all knew that, but Mundine won every rd in a glorified sparring session. Imo Shannon Taylor is a better opponent than Geale has ever fought. Geale appears to be a tidy boxer with good skills imo. He has zero power and is a bit dodgy in the chin department when we think of how he might do on the world scene not the journeyman circuit. I expect Mundine to win quite comfortably over the distance. About 117-111.
I cut and pasted this for your benefit from my previous entry on this thread... BTW...I am not a boxing referee or ringside judge...I form my own opinions...I have no reason to be biased toward Geale for any reason other than enjoying the prospect of seeing new talent and appreciating it. Is Mundine the best Geale will have faced up to....time will tell? Mundine has fought the distance 5 of his last 6 fights. Cant finish has beens and "B" class boxers. Krazy Kim dropped him. Pintos thrashed his torso the entire fight with obvious displeasure to Mundine. Taylor attempted to take it up to Mundine and he either crouched to the floor or completely turned his back. World Class...not! I get the distinct feeling Mundines best days are behind him. Nothing I have seen over the past 2 years from Mundine would rate him as a serious contender anymore. The huggers lost in Mundines self hypnotising hype and need to stop flapping thier arms like chickens every time he claps his hands and take a honest look at his current form.
You don't think Mundine is the best opponent Geale has faced yet ? I would be curious to know who you think Geale has faced who is anywhere near as good as Mundine ? I agree with you that Mundine is now past his best at nearly 34 yrs of age. That is without doubt imo. I just don't see Geale being good enough to win 7 rds in this fight to nick a decision. He has next to no chance of stopping Mundine due to his lack of power. As i said earlier i think Geale is a tidy well schooled boxer but he is going from playing reserve grade to first grade here. I would have preferred he step up gradually with guys like Pittman/Soliman (i believe he would probably beat both) then to jump right up after fighting the journeyman circuit like Pittman did. I don't blame Geale for taking the opportunity because he will be paid ok and if he pulls if off it will be huge in Australia. How do you think the fight will go and what will be the outcome in your opinion ?
I would agree Sam would beat Geale and I think Pitman would win as well.....I rate Pitman and if he stays busy we will see him get another title shot soon
The only reason Geale is ranked the #10 middleweight by some organizations is beacause of his IBO belt which obviously has given weight to his standing. If you base it on ability, I would not have Geale in my Top 20 MW's. And while Mundine would absolutely be murdered by any of the top MW's like Pav and AA, and outboxed by many others, I would still consider him to be somewhere in the Top 10 MW's, around 8 or 9. I cannot put him any higher based on his recent pathetic opposition and performances. Neither fighter has enough power to knock out their Grandma, . . . and based on the fact that Mundine has better boxing ability, it will be a lop-sided UD win.
Choc UD. Still a very interesting bout for me though. I think Geale's kryptonite will be power, he will get knocked out at some point by a top contender with power, maybe not even a top one if he drops the ball. Choc has not displayed the power he had at 168 for a long time, nor the confidence he needs to use it. Geale's decent technical ability and busy, neat style could give Choc a very hard night. That being said Mundine steps it up when it is needed..I dont see him losing this one, even in his possibly weakened state at 160.
I think Choc's power was always overrated even at 168. The only reason he has a somewhat decent KO ratio is because of his lack of quality opposition. Can anyone even name a quality opponent he has knocked out??? And don't say Soliman, the guy is a small MW for god's sake. His last KO was against Clavero, a guy who had lost 5 of his last 7 fights prior to fighting Mundine. And what a comedy of a fight that was. . . absolutely laughable KO. The guy clearly dogged it and fell from a slap. I don't see Mundine knocking anyone out until he takes on Rico Chong Nee's cousin at LHW in preparation for the Green rematch.
He KO'd Guy Waters with a good shot, and Waters fought mainly at LHW. I do think Mundines power has deminished in the last 3yrs.
Knocking out Sam Soliman is a pretty solid achievment, no matter what weight. He also stopped Sean Sullivan and Ricky Thornberry. He clearly marked up guys like Echols and Green, with hard clean shots. There is no denying his concussive power...its isnt top shelf but it is there.