Daniel Geale’s biggest fight yet DANIEL Geale shuffles into the gym in Narellan, Sydney, for one of his final sparring sessions before he faces the monster Kazakh Gennady Golovkin in New York. He’s surrounded by robust trainers, cutmen and handlers all intoxicated by this raw stench of spit and sweat. Geale sits quietly next to the ring and tightly wraps strapping around his wrists. Veins burst from his tattooed forearms. He rams concrete fists into the oversized gloves being shoved his way by Graham Shaw, a trainer who loathes showmanship and bullshit. Geale slides to the middle of the room, shadow-boxing now, oblivious to his onlookers, glaring at his full-length reflection in the mirror. Jab-jab. Phsssh-phsssh. He delivers his imaginary blows in concert with sharp exhalations of breath. His arse is hanging out the back of his shorts and his face, devoid of scars, cauliflower ears or a broken schnozz, is buried beneath a hoodie. He’s lean like a greyhound, bobbing, weaving and angling, fighting himself and visions of Golovkin to a backdrop of punching bags, beat-up gloves and the kind of dear old fighters who never really go away. Geale’s sparring partner is Jake Carr, Australia’s super middleweight champion, the bigger and heavier man. Carr has been ordered to imitate Golovkin, the most ferocious fighter on the planet. Geale is preparing for the pain and doubt that will visit him during 12 long rounds with Golovkin. “If you’ve done the work, you’re going to make it through. But if you haven’t prepared properly, there’s nowhere to go,” Geale admits. “You can’t lie to yourself because you know the truth. You know what you’ve done or what you haven’t done. You know if you really deserve it. Your mind wants to give in to your body, but you can’t let it. It wants you to quit because things aren’t going your way.” Read Will Swanton’s vivid portrait of Daniel Geale, the “good man” of Australian boxing, who fights Gennady Golovkin in New York on Sunday morning (AEST), in The Weekend Australian tomorrow.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 07:06:02 +0000
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