Daniel Geale to face

Former IBF champion Daniel Geale will take on Garth Wood on February 19th in , according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

“I’m glad Daniel is fighting as he needs to stay busy,” said Geale’s promoter Gary Shaw.

“Wood is a dangerous and risky fight against a wild puncher,” Geale told ESPN.com. “I have been training hard for my comeback fight. I’m not going to take this fight lightly. We needed a fight to keep active, the opportunity arose, and my management arranged it. It will be an interesting fight with different styles.

“I can’t wait to get back in there and pursue my journey to become a world champion again. I believe the plan is to fight GGG sometime in 2014. It would be ideal to be able to take a title to the table. We will see what happens.”

“Geale wants to fight GGG in April, and I have spoken to HBO about the fight and all they say is that they are interested, but they are exploring other options,” Shaw said. “What can be a better option than Geale, a true 160-pounder and a former world champion who beat [Felix] Sturm [in a unification fight] on German soil? And even though Daniel did not get the decision in [against Barker] he is willing to come back just to fight GGG.

“What I don’t understand is that after the Barker fight, HBO said they wanted Geale back, and now they have gone silent. I know GGG would fight Geale as [Golovkin’s team] asked if we wanted the fight in Monte Carlo, but Geale wants to fight him on HBO.”

“Daniel has been the best fighter to come out of Australia in 20 years with what he has done, going overseas and beating the champions on their turf,” Wood told the (Sydney) Telegraph, referring to Geale’s two title victories in Germany against Sturm in 2012 and in ’11.

“And even though Murray being canceled was a disappointment, I believe everything happens for a reason and it has led me to this, my biggest fight by far, and deservedly so.”