Former IBF middleweight champion Daniel Geale (29-2, 15 KO’s) will be facing 35-year-old fringe contender Garth Wood (12-3-1, 8 KO’s) on February 19th in an all-Australia clash in Sydney, at the Entertainment Centre. This is Geale’s first fight since his 12 round split decision defeat at the hands of Darren Barker last year in August. Geale has been sitting idle looking for a fight, and this is what he found.
Geale, 32, is interested in fighting WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin for his title in April, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen because HBO reportedly isn’t interested in that fight. It’s not surprising that HBO doesn’t want to put on Geale-Golovkin, because Geale hasn’t done anything since his loss to Barker. Fighting #13 WBA, Wood isn’t then type of fight that will redeem Geale in any way, shape or form. It’s just a fight that will make money for Geale in Australia, and nothing more than that.
With Manny Pacquiao’s pay-per-view numbers dropping off badly in his last fight, and with him having lost 2 out of his last 3 fights, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is now gloating about it and seemingly kicking him while he’s down. Mayweather sees Pacquiao in a situation where he needs his help in order to get him out of the hole he’s been put in. But Mayweather says he’s not going to do it. He’s not going to bail Pacquiao out with his IRS problems, or with his problems with his PPV numbers tanking all of a sudden. Mayweather feels that Pacquiao has to deal with these issues on his own without his help.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO’s) will be playing it safe for his next fight by taking a confidence builder fight against Alfredo Angulo (22-3, 18 KO’s) on March 8th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mexican news site Esto has broken the story about this match-up. The Canelo-Angulo fight is expected to be a pay-per-view bout on Showtime. It’s going to be interesting to see how much this fight will be going for on PPV, because both fighters are coming off of losses.
Manny Pacquiao’s lawyer Franklin Gacal Jr. thinks Bob Arum of Top Rank should be a good one and free Manny Pacquiao up from the remainder of his contract with Top Rank so that Pacquiao can fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a history-making bout in 2014. Pacquiao is still under contract with Arum for the whole of 2014, and as long as he’s with him, Mayweather will not agree to fight Pacquiao.
If you were one of the fans who were hoping that Manny Pacquiao would leave Top Rank when his contract expires with them at the end of 2014, you might not be happy to read the news from Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who is saying that Pacquiao may re-sign with Top Rank to stay with them beyond 2015. This could mean a 2-year contract or possibly even longer.
This past week Bob Arum of Top Rank mentioned that he’s interested in having Mikey Garcia (33-0, 28 KO’s), the current WBO super featherweight champion, facing his No.1 star Manny Pacquiao once Mikey moves up in weight in the future. The fact that Arum is talking about this fight tells you that we can expect that fight to happen very, very soon. Arum doesn’t have another pay-per-view presence in his Top Rank stable, and the 35-year-old Pacquiao is about the end of the line as a PPV guy in a year or two.
While the proposed June 7th fight between Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s) and WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) still hasn’t been negotiated, Roy Jones Jr. chimed in on his thoughts about the fight anyway. He sees the fight coming down to a couple of things.
While WBO super featherweight champion Mikey Garcia (33-0, 28 KO’s) still hasn’t even proven that he’s the best fighter in the 130 lb. division, that’s not keeping his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank planning on matching the skinny Mikey up against his cash cow fighter Manny Pacquiao in the near future. Arum hasn’t given a date for when he wants to match the 26-year-old Mikey with Pacquiao, but don’t be surprised if it happens really soon if Pacquiao decides to leave Top Rank. His contract is up with the company this year, and anything is possible if this is his final year with them.