Question Of The Week: What If Geale Beats Cotto?

Thus begins a new series here at Sean's Page - the  the Question Of The Week series - wherein each week, a relevant question pertaining to the sport of boxing will be dealt with. This week's question deals with one Daniel Geale, the increasingly thin Aussie who is set to face the increasingly unpopular middleweight champion, Miguel Cotto this Saturday night in Brooklyn.

The question:

What if Geale beats Cotto?

It's something I haven't seen a whole lot of people bringing up. Oh, I've heard and read of people saying Geale has a chance - at least I did until the catchweight matter came to the forefront - but I haven't noticed too many individuals pondering what will happen if Geale pulls off the upset.

First off, let's admit right here and now that many will be thrilled if Cotto bites the dust this weekend. There's just no two ways about it. Cotto has done something that would have seemed quite strange seven or eight years ago, he's made himself into a villain. Fair or not, fans and analysts are now viewing the guy as an arrogant grump who bends the rules to his favor.  So there's that.

There's also the fact that a superfight with Canelo Alvarez either wouldn't happen at all or would suddenly become a lot less super. Let's face it, the bloom will be off the rose as far as Miguel Cotto's second act is concerned if he's bested by a guy Gennady Golovkin made mincemeat out of not so long ago. Cotto, after all, would have to win his title back impressively in order to re-generate excitement for a Canelo match.

Speaking of Golovkin, it's safe to say his chances of meeting Canelo for a fight sooner rather than later might be greatly enhanced should Cotto fall to Geale. Arguments over whether Golokin would have to bend over backwards to meet Cotto's demands would be irrelevant, since the only thing Cotto would be demanding is a rematch with his Australian foe.

Lastly, a Cotto loss would make this a really rough first half of 2015 for Cotto trainer Freddie Roach. The Pacquiao loss, the Provodnikov loss, back problems and then a Cotto loss would make for really rough going.

Boxing is nothing, however, if not a sea of extremely choppy waters.