Daniel Geale didn't have an easy night against fringe contender Eromosele Albert, but the Aussie titlist did his job, outboxed the challenger, and retained his IBF middleweight belt with an unanimous decision win on scores of 116-112, 117-111, and 119-109. Bad Left Hook scored it 119-109 for Geale.
Geale (26-1, 15 KO) found himself in against a hungry, 37-year-old scrapper who knew he had nothing to lose and was coming to win against all odds. At times, Albert (24-5-1, 12 KO) did have some success offensively, and the greatest credit you can give his performance is that he showed an incredible amount of stamina in constantly trying to pressure Geale, and throwing plenty of punches along the way.
But it was the 30-year-old fighting in front of his home fans in Hobart, Tasmania, who landed the cleaner, harder blows throughout the fight, and though Albert made Geale work every second of the fight, Geale showed he was willing to work to get the win, and didn't come into this fight expecting a walk in the park.
What Geale does next isn't yet known, but despite earlier stated intentions to come to the United States under Gary Shaw's wing after this fight, Shaw noted on the broadcast that he would like to see Geale take one more fight in Australia. A rematch with Anthony Mundine was raised as a possibility, and would be a big draw in Australia. Back in 2009, Mundine narrowly outpointed Geale in a fight many, including myself, scored for Geale. Mundine is currently busy ducking fights at 154 pounds and looking for the easiest way to a title belt he can find, so I can't see a rematch happening unless Mundine were to lose to Rigoberto Alvarez and have nothing more to protect.
We'll have to wait and see what's next, but today Geale was in fine form, winning handily but not without breaking a sweat, showing slickness that Albert just couldn't overcome, and doing his job.
For undercard results, click here.