By Adrian Warren
Daniel Geale's international manager Gary Shaw says the new dual middleweight world boxing champion's career would have been in deep trouble had he lost to Germany's Felix Sturm.
IBF champion Geale added Sturm's WBA Super title to his portfolio with a split points win in Oberhausen, Germany on Saturday.
It ended a six-year, 14-fight unbeaten streak for Sturm and Geale became the first Australian-born fighter to hold two globally recognised titles in the same division.
Had one of the two judges who scored in Geale's favour gone the other way it would have had catastrophic consequences.
"This was a case if Daniel lost we were in deep trouble, because nobody would want to fight Daniel without the belts because he's too tough," Shaw told AAP.
"It would be a long process to rebuild him.
"Now that he's won the fight, everything is open."
Looming on the horizon are mandatory defences in the IBF against compatriot Sam Soliman and WBA against Kazakhstan's Gennady Golovkin.
"We've had a bit of contact and had some discussions while they were there, (in Germany)" Soliman's manager David Stanley told AAP.
"There will be some more discussions, but I'm pretty sure that it (a fight with Soliman) will be the next on Geale's agenda, so I'd imagine it will be just before Christmas."
Asked if Soliman had watched the Geale-Sturm fight, Stanley said: "You can bet he's probably watched it three times by now!"
"They fought a great game plan and he (Geale) has created history and Team Soliman, we take our hat off to him."
Soliman became the leading IBF contender last month when he outpointed Giovanni Lorenzo in a title eliminator to notch his seventh straight win.
While Geale's first two defences were in his home state of Tasmania, an All-Australian title fight against Soliman wouldn't necessarily end up there.
"I'd like to still fight him in Australia, but would be lying if I said to you that I wasn't very disappointed in the lack of turnout in his last fight in Tasmania," Shaw said.