Miguel Cotto vs. Daniel Geale was a professional boxing match contested on June 6, 2015, for the WBC and The Ring middleweight titles.
Background Miguel Cotto, after having defeated Sergio Martínez in June 2014 to capture the WBC middleweight title, began negotiations with Canelo Álvarez with the long-awaited and much-hyped fight tentatively scheduled for May 2, 2015, which Álvarez preferred due to it taking place on the weekend prior to Cinco de Mayo. However, Golden Boy Promotions head Oscar De La Hoya, who promoted Álvarez admitted that the talks between both fighters had been difficult as Cotto preferred to have the fight in June, around the time of Puerto Rican Day Parade.De La Hoya Admits Cotto-Canelo Negotiations Are Tough, Boxingscene.com article, 2014-11–01, Retrieved on 2025-08-08 In the meantime, Cotto was originally scheduled to return to the ring in December 2014 at Madison Square Garden, but Cotto opted to sit out the remainder of 2014 as his trainer Freddie Roach would be preoccupied with training Manny Pacquiao for his November fight with Chris Algieri.Miguel Cotto to sit out rest of '14, ESPN article, 2014-09–03, Retrieved on 2025-08-08 In January 2014, after months of negotiations, it was announced that talks for the Cotto–Álvarez fight had ceased and both fighters would pursue other opponents for the time being.Report: Miguel Cotto-Canelo Alvarez talks called off, CBS Sports article, 2015-01–17, Retrieved on 2025-08-08
In April, it was announced that Cotto end his year-long hiatus and return to the ring to face former WBA and IBF middleweight champion Daniel Geale on June 6 at the Barclays Center. The bout was viewed as a tune-up for Cotto prior to facing Álvarez, who himself was facing James Kirkland in May, later in the year.Miguel Cotto to fight Daniel Geale with Canelo Alvarez up next, ESPN article, 2015-04–15, Retrieved on 2025-08-08 Cotto insisted on the fight having a catchweight of 157 pounds, three pounds under the middleweight division.Cotto-Geale To Have Catch-Weight of 157, Says Source, Boxingscene.com article, 2015-04–13, Retrieved on 2025-08-08 Geale, fearing he would have difficulty making the weight, initially refused Cotto's demand for a catchweight, but after Cotto threatened to withdraw from the bout, Geale relented.Miguel Cotto Warns That It's Catch-Weight or No Fight, Boxingscene.com article, 2015-06–01, Retrieved on 2025-08-08 At the weigh-in the day before the fight, Geale managed to just make weight, coming in at 157 pounds even.Daniel Geale makes weight for title fight against Miguel Cotto, ESPN article, 2015-06–05, Retrieved on 2025-08-08
Cotto was the regaining TBRB champion with Geale ranked 7th.
Fight Details Cotto would dominate Geale through 3+ rounds, landing over double the amount of punches and appeared to be far quicker than Geale, who landed nothing substantial during the duration of the bout. Just before the end of round three, Cotto stunned Geale with a right hand that sent him staggering into the ropes. 30 seconds into round four, Cotto sent Geale down on his back with a left hook. Geale would get to his knees before answering the referee's count at nine and continuing the fight. Cotto would continue his assault before dropping Geale with a short right hand. Geale would beat the referee's 10-count but shook his head when asked if he wanted to continue, thus giving Cotto the victory be technical knockout at 1:28 of the fourth round.Miguel Cotto keeps middleweight title with 4th-round TKO of Daniel Geale, ESPN article, 2015-06–06, Retrieved on 2025-08-11
Fight card Confirmed bouts: Weight Class Weight vs. Method Round Time NotesCatchweight157 lbs.Miguel Cottodef.Daniel Geale TKO4/121:28Featherweight126 lbs.Fernando Vargas Parradef.Wilfredo Vázquez Jr.UD8Featherweight126 lbs.Angel Lunadef.Jose LopezUD6Light Heavyweight175 lbs.Junior Younandef.Mike SawyerTKO2/62:29Heavyweight200+ lbs.Zhilei Zhangdef.Glenn ThomasUD4Welterweight147 lbs.Dustin Fleischerdef.Kareem MillnerTKO1/41:06Super Bantamweight122 lbs.Shawn Simpsondef.Damon SimonTKO4/42:05
Broadcasting Country Broadcaster Main Event Sport 1 Latin America Space BoxNation HBO
References