NEW YORK -- Gennady "GGG" Golovkin, one of the most explosive knockout artists in all of boxing, will defend his IBO middleweight title Saturday, July 26 live on HBO beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT, against Daniel Geale at Madison Square Garden, and the feared slugger is expecting his opponent to be in prime form.
"I know he's a very tough fighter. He has the name because he is an ex-champion and he had two belts," Golovkin told Sportsworldnews.com through a translator.
Geale underwhelmed in a high-profile title bout against Darren Barker though, in which he dropped his IBF title by split decision. Golovkin doesn't expect that version of Geale to show up on fight night.
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"I know Daniel is motivated for this fight," Golovkin said. "I think this will be an interesting fight and I hope Daniel won't be jumping around the ring. I hope it will be a fight. I don't think it will be like Daniel Geale's last fight when he didn't seem as serious."
Geale crushed Garth Wood in a return fight, but Wood is far from the caliber of Golovkin. GGG compared Geale to Matthew Macklin, whom he dismantled in three rounds in June 2013, but acknowledged Geale's greater hand speed.
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"I know that he has his style, he is very fast, very quick," Golovkin said. "He throws a lot of punches. I understand he is very experienced but we also have some strategies from training. He's very experienced and in all his past fights he was able to make it until the end; but we have our strategy and we're training hard."
Without getting specific, Golovkin also indicated there may be some new tricks up his sleeve to deal with Geale if he decides to hop on his bicycle after feeling the power.
"I invite everyone to the fight and you might see something new, I'm not sure,"Golovkin said. "But I am sure the fight will be very interesting. I don't want to go ahead and tell something but you guys can watch the fight and see."
This fight is big for GGG not only because Geale is the highest-level opponent he has seen in his career, but also because he will be fighting in front of his biggest crowd ever. Golovkin will be performing in the Garden's main arena, which has him extremely excited.
"It's amazing that there will be so many people and I am very excited about that."
Finally, the big stage combined with the high-end opponent may bring out a star-making performance. Big fights have been rumored for Golovkin with the likes of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Miguel Cotto, but he's still not at the superstar level despite his entertaining fights. Golovkin believes a win at Madison Square Garden, over a high-quality fighter, can change his career.
"This fight will bring me to the upper level and at that point it will be much easier for my team to organize the much bigger fights."
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