Paul Kent: Boxer Daniel Geale a rare humble champion

DANIEL Geale has everything to make it in the fight game but a working mouth. This is a fresh cruelty in a sport where there are many.

DANIEL Geale has everything to make it in the fight game but a working mouth. This is a fresh cruelty in a sport where there are many.

Geale’s dignified silence makes him everything a public wants in a fighter and yet, now we finally have it, the love isn’t returned.

That is our failing, not Geale’s.

He saw Darren Barker across a room in New York earlier this week and, provided with an opportunity to stir interest in their fight that takes place Sunday, Geale didn’t bother to size him up.

“Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t,” he said.

“From my amateur days I learned you can pay too much attention to the other guy’s physical size. It can distract you.”

Barker is long and lean with a crisp punch, and the most dangerous fighter in the middleweight division outside the other belt holders.

He is dangerous early but can fade.

Instead of mind games and box office sales, though, Geale said nothing and let Barker do his interviews at one end of the room while he did his.

As far as he is concerned Barker is the chance for fight fans to see that he really means it when he says that, as the IBF middleweight champion, he wants to fight his way to the top and not talk his way there.

He went specifically for Barker when he was available.

It is such an attractive fight, and yet because Geale refuses to play the game and sacrifice integrity for ticket sales every fight is a slog at the box office.

And we, the public, have become too accustomed to the screaming headline to recognise it as important.

The fight game is the most honest and most dishonest sport in the world. Nobody is more honest about their opponents than a fighter. So much so, little of it is trusted.

Years ago, when Justin Rowsell and Lovemore Ndou were at a press conference days before their fight, it got testy and chairs were knocked over and plenty in attendance puffed up their chests.

Rowsell was being trained by Jeff Fenech, in the midst of a bitter fallout with his former promoter Bill Mordey who, as you would have it, handled Ndou.

In the wings was Shannan Taylor, loyal to Mordey.

Elsewhere in the room were several others, loyal and somewhat more to Fenech. Then there were others, loosely connected to the either side but more often seen on the fringes come fight night, and they were there this day.

When the words got heavy most in the room went to their feet, except the fighters and Mordey.

Rowsell told me later he was about to duck under the table. Mordey said he would have been fighting him for crawl space.

Taylor told me how serious he was: “I kicked off my thongs,” he said. Fenech jumped between guys to hold them back, pleading with them to calm. I had a rare insight into what nearly happened that day.

I knew the press got it wildly wrong the following day when the whole episode was covered as if it was just the silly boxing mob putting on a fake stink to get some publicity. It couldn’t have been more wrong.

One guy kept yelling he was going to his car to get his gun. Another told me later had he got near the door he would never have made it through. Others in the room, he explained, didn’t make the mistake of leaving their guns in their car.

Federal Police knocked on Channel 10’s door the next day to take away uncut vision that identified some of those present.

One guy could be seen in vision grabbing a glass from the table, for instance, secreting it in his hand. The police had him in the frame for a murder and wanted to see his associates.

It was as real as could be, that day.

The minor rumble generated ticket sales, though, and as Geale trained in relative anonymity this week he remained firm about maintaining his integrity at the expense of becoming a sideshow.

“That’s not what I’m about,” he said.

“My goal, I’m out to be the best fighter in the world.”

Halfway along the drive from New York to Atlantic City, a city filled with casinos, is a big billboard. The place is full of them.

When Jeff Harding rocked into Atlantic City more than 20 years ago another big billboard was lit up on the drive to the hotel: “Andries v Harding,” it said.

Harding glowed when he saw it, getting what he believed was long denied recognition.

As Geale made the drive this week another billboard lit up the side of the road: “Geale v Barker.”

“Apparently,” said Geale, the most humble of boxing champions. “I didn’t see it,” he said. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

***

LOYALTY should be a word banned in the NRL.

Blake Ferguson wants out, Canberra are just yet to be told. Anthony Milford has already asked for his release and, according to who you listen to, might already be on the way to Brisbane next year.

Ben Barba has confirmed he wants a release, again for compassionate grounds.

Where sympathy once went entirely the players way in contract stand-offs, the diminishing numbers of one-club players and players not seeing out deals has watered down support to it is, at best, divided, and players are no longer granted automatic support from worn out fans.

But who is right?

And is it possible both sides can be?

Players, after all, are simply being as ruthless about their protecting careers now as clubs have long been, and you can’t criticise them for that.

As the NRL reviews its salary cap structure it appears certain it will move towards systems used overseas, where player movement is more free and transparent but where there is suitable compensation for it.

The NRL salary cap is too restrictive for clubs with mismanaged rosters, meaning it can take years to undo a couple of bad decisions from previous management . No need to mention Parramatta or Wests Tigers here.

Similarly, players are aware how difficult it is to deny a request on compassionate grounds, knowing how quickly it can damage its public opinion, no matter how frivolous the claim.

Given the drainage of talent out of Canberra, the Raiders have every right to be annoyed of Milford and Ferguson head up the highway.

But if clubs were forced to pay a transfer fee, for say Josh Dugan, then they would have some compensation for their loss.

Similarly, if no one was prepared to meet the Raiders’ asking price, Dugan might have understood the risk he presented to clubs.

There are numerous scenarios, and the NRL needs to examine every one.

This will create a lot of moaning from friends lamenting the loss of “loyalty” to the game, but it’s time we acknowledge the old days are long gone.

There will still be the odd one-club player, protected by the marquee player allowance, but the game has moved too far down the business model now to be anything different, and as fans we need to recognise that.

***

Q and A with Wallabies captain James Horwill

The Ewen McKenzie era starts Saturday night, is everybody happy?

Everybody is excited with his appointment and the way he has approached the group from day dot.

What’s he doing different?

Subtle things. The whole game plan has changed. He has brought in a new attack coach, Jim McKay, so we’ve got some different philosophies there and the way we want to play. He’s probably streamlining things around the edges. He doesn’t spend a long time on meetings. He’s just trying to make it as simple as possible for us.

Matt Toomua is five-eighth. Did Quade Cooper forget it was McKenzie’s anniversary or something?

Ewen has selected a team on performance and he has been very impressed with the way Matt’s gone about his work at training and playing for the Brumbies. Quade’s going to have an impact on the game at some stage. He’ll see some time.

Are we going to see different rugby from the Wallabies now?

We’ll certainly see a different style. Ewen’s got a different philosophy on how he wants to play the game. We’re certainly going to go out there with an attacking mindset. The basics of the game will be the same but we just need to go out there with that mindset that we’ll attack.

Of course, the flaw in all this is that it’s still the same All Blacks side.

Yes, they’re a pretty handy side. It’s a challenge for us but we’ve got the guys in our side.