For some time now I have listed
my views about Anthony Mundine’s counter-productive big mouth
but just when I think the self-professed man couldn’t possibly
do or say anything more stupid than what he has previously, he
exceeds my expectations on sheer stupidity. It is a pity he
doesn’t do something once in a while to exceed my expectations
in the boxing ring; after all, Mundine claims to be the
greatest ever athlete to come out of Australia. He isn’t even
Australia’s greatest boxer, doesn’t even come close.
“In reality Anthony Mundine has
only held the WBA regular Super Middleweight title on two
separate occasions (Sven Ottke, Mikkel Kessler & Joe Calzaghe
have held the WBA Super Middleweight Championship during all
of Mundine's title reigns). While this
in itself is a
good achievement, one Mundine should be proud of, it doesn’t
give him the right to carry on and make the stupid statements
and claims he insists on making a week or two before he fights
just to generate some extra interest in his latest mismatch,
to put some extra bums on the seats.”
Here’s a suggestion Anthony, try
fighting credible opponents in all of your fights, for every
Kessler, Green & Soliman on your record there are two of three
stiffs dug up from who knows where, like the opponent he just
dismembered over night. Going into this mismatch of a fight
Alberto Calvero had won two of his last 7 fights and yet
somehow was rated number 15 by the WBA.
Now with his
recent eye surgery and subsequent infection, I figured that
Mundine should take a relatively easy bout next, but it now
appears that the damage done to his eye is another typical
Mundine over-exaggeration.
A recent article from Sydney’s
Daily Telegraph provided some interesting insights to
Mundine’s eye problems: We called Dr Lou
Lewis, legendary fight doctor who will officiate at next
week's bout. He was in his office waiting to see you for a
final examination. "Lou," we said, "tell us it's true. Tell us
that Anthony is going to perform a miracle and fight with only
half an eye."
"A lot of it is just bulls...," said the Doc.
"He's a self-perpetuating publicity machine." Well, Choc. We
were shocked and didn't quite know what to say after that. In
fact we swear we could hear Doc Lewis laughing at the other
end of the phone. "No one would let him get into a ring if he
had 50 per cent or less vision," he said. "It just wouldn't
happen. I'm hoping to see him later today for a final look.
But he's already been cleared and no one would dare take any
chances."
For those of you who
aren’t aware, Dr Lou Lewis is the most respected fight doctor
in Australia and his opinion counts. I can only come to the
conclusion that Mundine and his people have decided to milk
his eye infection for all it is worth to justify another title
bout against yet another undeserving and unworthy challenger.
Why would he do this? To rip the public off once again, he
seems to have as many people loving him as there are who
despise him. For all of his loyal fans who refuse to believe
that their hero is taking them for a ride, please look at the
evidence, he is taking you for fools by not facing worthy
competition for a so-called world champion and pocketing your
hard earned money. He won’t be taking mine, I refuse to pay a
cent to watch an Anthony Mundine fight unless he is matched
appropriately.
Not satisfied with taking a
very soft opponent for his latest defence or more likely slow
ticket and pay per view sales have lead one of Mundine’s
predictable rantings to the press. In his latest verbal
tirade, Mundine has attacked 2000 Olympic gold medalist Cathy
Freeman (who for those of you don’t know is an indigenous
Australian or Aboriginal Australian, not sure what is the most
political correct term these days) stating she has sold out to
big business and who couldn’t be an authentic indigenous
leader because she is a woman. Perhaps Mundine’s comments have
arisen from jealousy as he does not have any big business
sponsorship, he says this is through choice but the more
probable reason is because Mundine represents too much of a
liability for any wise corporate entity to associate their
name with Anthony Mundine when taking into consideration the
absolute utter nonsense that comes out of his mouth with such
consistency. Nonsense such as women can’t be good leaders,
what year were you born Anthony? Your thoughts are outdated
and counterproductive, who would you suggest be better
leadership material? Yourself? I have had to laugh when you
have talked about going into politics. I can just see it now,
you would brand anyone who questioned your judgment as a
racist and Australia would probably end up going to war
against one of our own allies if you were our leader!
Anthony Mundine’s biggest
rival, Danny Green, offered some rare compliments after
defending Cathy Freeman against Mundine’s bizarre ranting.
Green stated that Mundine does not need to stoop to the level
he is currently doing to generate interest in his fights.
Green believes Mundine’s skills speak loudly enough and I
agree. If only he would shut his mouth and fight credible
opponents more often he would be taken more seriously.
Well Mundine won his mismatch
with Calvero with a 4th round TKO. Not much really
to report other than the Argentinean was a mobile punching bag
that Mundine basically hit at will. From the highlights I saw
on the local news, the challenger (if you can call him that,
not deserving of being ranked in any sanctioning body’s top
100, let alone No.15 with the WBA) appeared to have nothing
but the bare boxing basics. This mismatch drops Mundine’s
stock severely, he is going to need to face credible opponents
if he is to be taken seriously overseas. Here are some
fighters on my wish list for Mundine to fight at sometime in
the near future, with each of these men “The Mouth” would at
least earn the big money he demands:
Joe Calzaghe: highly unlikely
as Joe is a household name now in the USA and has much bigger
fish to fry! Why would he waste his time with a loud mouth
like Mundine who is notoriously difficult to deal with and
views himself a lot higher on the food chain than he really
is?
Mikkel Kessler: very possible
as Kessler has beaten Mundine before and I’m sure he will be
rated very high by the WBA after his loss to Calzaghe. Mikkel
will be wanting to get his career back on track after a rest
and I’m sure he would have no hesitation taking another fight
with “The Mouth”.
Danny Green: This bout is very
likely to happen if Danny Green wins the WBA Light Heavyweight
title from Stipe Drew. It would be another multi-million
dollar payday for both men.
Sakio Bika: Another very likely
bout to happen as Sakio has a VERY high profile in the USA and
with rumours of “The Contender” creator Jeff Wald having
contacted Mundine’s manager Koder Nasser to discuss the
possibility of a contender card being shown in Australia, who
knows.
Paul Briggs: Possible, but very
unlikely as the two men have been sparring partners for years
and Briggs has had a sustained amount of time off due to a
mystery illness.
Lucian Bute: Anything is
possible, I’m not sure what kind of following Bute has but
a unification match would be good for both men.
Carl Froch: unlikely but
possible as I’m sure Froch’s English promoters would want to
keep this guy away from Mundine until he has a world title of
his own.
Edison Miranda: A possible
match up, Miranda seems willing to fight anyone. Mundine’s
management will probably want to steer well away from this
dangerous banger. I can just imagine the months of back and
forth trash talking if these guys ever signed to fight each
other.
Jeff Lacy: unlikely but
possible but I’m sure Golden Boy Promotions (Lacy’s new
promoter) will keep their new charge well away from the fleet
footed Mundine. Apparently Antonio Tarver is quite interested
in fighting Lacy next.
As much as I would like to be
patriotic and support Anthony Mundine I just can’t as every
time I start to warm to his credible achievements, he then
takes a mismatch like last night’s bout or he comes out with
says something ridiculous. Mundine himself would say I am a
typical white man who doesn’t want to see an Aboriginal become
successful and make big money. I’m sick of Mundine using the
race card every time the press is critical of his actions.
People like Mundine can’t tell the difference between
criticism and racism. Wrong, I can’t stand people who mouth
off, over rate their achievements and demand unwarranted
respect without earning it. I’m glad Mundine has been a
success, but I am opposed to ANY fighter at the top level
making money off their loyal fans by ripping then off with
mismatches. A bit more of a humble approach wouldn’t hurt
either from the so called “Man”.
Darren
Yates
