World champion boxer Daniel Geale has been named Tasmania's Athlete of the Year. Geale held both the IBF and WBA world titles in his middleweight division this year, but was stripped of the second for choosing to fight Anthony Mundine instead of mandatory opponent, Gennardy Golovkin.

Launceston-born Geale broke his training schedule to travel to Hobart to accept the award at a recently held ceremony.

"I was very busy at the time and it was sort of looking like I wasn't going to be able to make it down because of training commitments, but sort of switched a few things around and then we were lucky enough to come down, so I think it definitely paid off," he said.

Geale says he will be training over the holiday period ahead of his fight with Mundine in January.