mundine made the british tabloids

[adamheight]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnist ... -22784929/

I took the boat from Circular Quay up the Parramatta River and into Australian sport's heart of darkness last week.
Past Drummoyne, Chiswick and Kissing Point, where the homes of wealthy Sydneysiders gaze down from their bluffs and motor yachts bob gently at their berths.
Until, after an hour watching the city bathing in the setting sun, the RiverCat reached the Olympic Park where the Devil himself was lacing up his boxing gloves.
Some were to call what happened later that night in the shadow of the Olympic Stadium "the greatest moment in Australian sport" but it was far from that.
It was just that most of Australia had feared and loathed Anthony "The Man" Mundine for the best part of a decade, yearning for him to be vanquished and humiliated, and this was the night their dreams came true.
Mundine is 35 years old. He was an outstanding rugby league player before he switched to boxing and became one of the best fighters Australia has ever produced.
He lost to two of the best fighters in the super-middleweight division, Mikkel Kessler and Sven Ottke, but twice won versions of the world title in the last decade.
He is also an Aborigine and a Muslim, a classic anti-hero who does not believe in keeping his mouth shut, no matter how controversial the subject. He does not have any sponsors because he says he does not want to be in thrall to anyone.
"Marketing means you are licking the arse of some corporation," says his agent Khoder Nasser.
In 2001, Mundine said that the September 11 attacks were not about terrorism but "fighting for God's law". He lectured Australians on how "Americans brought it upon themselves".
He has spoken frequently about the racism he believes is widespread in Australia and the obstacles faced by Aborigines.
"Anthony," Nasser says, "is one of the people who can reveal the deep-seated hatred this country has towards indigenous people and people who are different."
Once, when he thought that other Aborigine sportsmen, friends of his, were keeping quiet about a race issue, Mundine called them "coconuts", brown on the outside but white on the inside.
"I'll tell you point, straight, blank - they are coconuts," Mundine said. "I don't respect them for that. Whether we lose that friendship or not, I'll tell them straight up."
If you want an idea of how unpopular Mundine is in Australia, think Audley Harrison in England and then multiply it by 10. Even 100. The country has been begging for someone to beat him and finish his career. Nobody gave Garth "From the Hood" Wood much of a chance of being the man to do it.
Not just because his nickname is one of the lamest in boxing, but because his credentials were paper-thin.
He earned the fight against Mundine as a prize for winning Australia's version of The Contender, an X Factor for boxers. Wood was not even on the original cast-list for the show.
He was seen as a loser, a guy whose life was on the skids.
Advertisement - article continues below »
Another former rugby league player, he had struggled to adapt to life outside the sport.
Wood had lost his wife and family, and become an alcoholic.
He went on three-day benders, walking up Darlinghurst Road where the baddest bouncers in Sydney work the doors of the nightlife area of Kings Cross and picking fights with them.
"I was hoping someone would shoot me or stab me," Wood said. "I had a death wish."
So the Devil and the white man on redemption's happy road fought at the Acer Arena on Wednesday night, the same place they held the basketball and the gymnastics events at Sydney 2000.
Ten years ago, an Aboriginal woman, Cathy Freeman, became the face of Australia's guilty conscience for a fortnight They felt so bad about what their forebears had done to the indigenous peoples, they even let her light the Olympic flame.
But Mundine does not trouble their conscience. He is way too uppity for that. By last Wednesday night, Australia just wanted rid of him and his opinions.
It was a rough, unattractive fight. Lots of holding and shoving and wrestling.
All the judges' scorecards showed that Mundine won the first four rounds.
Then, in the fifth, Wood caught The Man with a couple of untidy rights. Mundine sagged against the ropes and Wood hit him again with a brutal left hook.
Mundine slumped to the canvas and it was obvious immediately he was not going to beat the count. It was as if all Australia was sitting on his back, pressing him to the floor.
The arena went wild, caught in a mixture of exultation and disbelief.
Mundine was booed when he got to his feet. He accepted defeat graciously. He did not complain or make excuses. He said Wood had been the better man.
Wood's daughters, from whom he had been estranged, joined him in the ring. Everybody started crying. Everybody was happy.
I turned on the television when I got back to my hotel room an hour later.
The fight was the main story in the sports headlines and the pretty blonde presenter felt she was free to speak for Australia.
"Anthony Mundine got his just deserts last night," she said as the fight pictures began to roll.

[patron]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnist ... -22784929/

I took the boat from Circular Quay up the Parramatta River and into Australian sport's heart of darkness last week.
Past Drummoyne, Chiswick and Kissing Point, where the homes of wealthy Sydneysiders gaze down from their bluffs and motor yachts bob gently at their berths.
Until, after an hour watching the city bathing in the setting sun, the RiverCat reached the Olympic Park where the Devil himself was lacing up his boxing gloves.
Some were to call what happened later that night in the shadow of the Olympic Stadium "the greatest moment in Australian sport" but it was far from that.
It was just that most of Australia had feared and loathed Anthony "The Man" Mundine for the best part of a decade, yearning for him to be vanquished and humiliated, and this was the night their dreams came true.
Mundine is 35 years old. He was an outstanding rugby league player before he switched to boxing and became one of the best fighters Australia has ever produced.
He lost to two of the best fighters in the super-middleweight division, Mikkel Kessler and Sven Ottke, but twice won versions of the world title in the last decade.
He is also an Aborigine and a Muslim, a classic anti-hero who does not believe in keeping his mouth shut, no matter how controversial the subject. He does not have any sponsors because he says he does not want to be in thrall to anyone.
"Marketing means you are licking the arse of some corporation," says his agent Khoder Nasser.
In 2001, Mundine said that the September 11 attacks were not about terrorism but "fighting for God's law". He lectured Australians on how "Americans brought it upon themselves".
He has spoken frequently about the racism he believes is widespread in Australia and the obstacles faced by Aborigines.
"Anthony," Nasser says, "is one of the people who can reveal the deep-seated hatred this country has towards indigenous people and people who are different."
Once, when he thought that other Aborigine sportsmen, friends of his, were keeping quiet about a race issue, Mundine called them "coconuts", brown on the outside but white on the inside.
"I'll tell you point, straight, blank - they are coconuts," Mundine said. "I don't respect them for that. Whether we lose that friendship or not, I'll tell them straight up."
If you want an idea of how unpopular Mundine is in Australia, think Audley Harrison in England and then multiply it by 10. Even 100. The country has been begging for someone to beat him and finish his career. Nobody gave Garth "From the Hood" Wood much of a chance of being the man to do it.
Not just because his nickname is one of the lamest in boxing, but because his credentials were paper-thin.
He earned the fight against Mundine as a prize for winning Australia's version of The Contender, an X Factor for boxers. Wood was not even on the original cast-list for the show.
He was seen as a loser, a guy whose life was on the skids.
Advertisement - article continues below »
Another former rugby league player, he had struggled to adapt to life outside the sport.
Wood had lost his wife and family, and become an alcoholic.
He went on three-day benders, walking up Darlinghurst Road where the baddest bouncers in Sydney work the doors of the nightlife area of Kings Cross and picking fights with them.
"I was hoping someone would shoot me or stab me," Wood said. "I had a death wish."
So the Devil and the white man on redemption's happy road fought at the Acer Arena on Wednesday night, the same place they held the basketball and the gymnastics events at Sydney 2000.
Ten years ago, an Aboriginal woman, Cathy Freeman, became the face of Australia's guilty conscience for a fortnight They felt so bad about what their forebears had done to the indigenous peoples, they even let her light the Olympic flame.
But Mundine does not trouble their conscience. He is way too uppity for that. By last Wednesday night, Australia just wanted rid of him and his opinions.
It was a rough, unattractive fight. Lots of holding and shoving and wrestling.
All the judges' scorecards showed that Mundine won the first four rounds.
Then, in the fifth, Wood caught The Man with a couple of untidy rights. Mundine sagged against the ropes and Wood hit him again with a brutal left hook.
Mundine slumped to the canvas and it was obvious immediately he was not going to beat the count. It was as if all Australia was sitting on his back, pressing him to the floor.
The arena went wild, caught in a mixture of exultation and disbelief.
Mundine was booed when he got to his feet. He accepted defeat graciously. He did not complain or make excuses. He said Wood had been the better man.
Wood's daughters, from whom he had been estranged, joined him in the ring. Everybody started crying. Everybody was happy.
I turned on the television when I got back to my hotel room an hour later.
The fight was the main story in the sports headlines and the pretty blonde presenter felt she was free to speak for Australia.
"Anthony Mundine got his just deserts last night," she said as the fight pictures began to roll.

very good post, only i put him way down the best list, all the best

[Marlin]

Horrible article, total rubbish.

[Brute]

Did the Mirror journos ever find the money Bob Maxwell embezzled from their pension funds before he went over the side of his yacht?

[Beltane]

A shameless puff piece if there ever was one.

We never got "rid' of Mundine as the article implies - he did that to himself!

[adamheight]

Did the Mirror journos ever find the money Bob Maxwell embezzled from their pension funds before he went over the side of his yacht?

but did he go over his yacht?...they never found a body did they?

[Brute]

They found his body floating in the Atlantic. He is buried near the Mount of Olives in Israel. Word is that he was a spy for the Mossad.

[dberry]

It's a tabloid article, it was never going to be accurate.

[adamheight]

yes it is a tabloid, but the king of tabloids - the sun - is probably one of the best papers for boxing coverage. allegedly does his weekly column which is always worth a read to see who can have a dig at.

[caveman]

unfortunately i bet it aint over yet

[hearns]

It's a tabloid article, it was never going to be accurate.

What parts were not accurate.?

[Brute]

Outstanding footballer (he was just another five eight, never in Fittler's league).

How far down the list would he accurately be ranked all time pound for pound in Australian boxing? A lot of fighters from this country did not have the smorgasbord of titles young Anthony had to chose from. Jimmy Carruthers and Lionel Rose were undisputed World bantamweight Champions, Johnny Famechon was WBC Featherweight champion, but had to beat the best active featherweight to win it, while neither Rojas nor his opponent when he won the WBA version were rated in the top ten.

Rocky Mattioli (born in Italy, but came here as an infant) was WBC Junior middleweight Champion when the WBA was the only other title, Dave Sands beat Bobo Olsen twice but died in a traffic accident before Olsen became World Champion. Welterweight champions avoided Jack Carroll like the plague, Ron Richards and Fred Henneberry, apart from regularly packing out stadiums to fight each other, both beat men who went on to be world champions. They are just some I would rank above him.

Oh, and let's not forget Jeff Fenech and the immortal Les Darcy.

[Beltane]

Mundine was a talented rugby league player but was not highly regarded as a team or club man as we have a look at his career in Rugby League.

He played for St.George Dragons from 1993 to 1996 and then made the dash for cash to join the Brisbane Broncos in the Super League at the end of the season.

In 1997 he played 18 games for the Broncos, playing in their winning grand final team But in 1998, after turning his back on the Broncos, he returned to the Dragons.

Mundine was selected to play for New South Wales state rugby league team in each of the three matches of the 1999 State of Origin series, scoring a try in Game I. The Dragons went on to reach the Grand Final but the Dragons lost out to the Melbourne Storm, where Mundine covered himself in ignominy but refusing to pass the ball to unmarked players, thus costing the Dragons the title.

Note there is a bit of a selfish pattern building.

Priot to the opening game to season 2000 against The Storm, Mundine bagged The Storm in the media and The Storm retaliated by flogging the Dragons by the huge score 70 - 7 leaving Mundine humiliated. Soon Mundine was quoted in the media that he was peeved that further representative honours had not come his way, and believed that his representative opportunities did not reflect his abilities and achievements at club level. He raised the issue of racism as a possible explanation for this.

Mundine left rugby league half way through the 2000 season by walking out on his club and contract, to take on the boxing world. The rest we know.

In summary, Mundine's antics in Rugby League were a precusor to those throughout his boxing career.

[hearns]

Outstanding footballer (he was just another five eight, never in Fittler's league).

How far down the list would he accurately be ranked all time pound for pound in Australian boxing? A lot of fighters from this country did not have the smorgasbord of titles young Anthony had to chose from. Jimmy Carruthers and Lionel Rose were undisputed World bantamweight Champions, Johnny Famechon was WBC Featherweight champion, but had to beat the best active featherweight to win it, while neither Rojas nor his opponent when he won the WBA version were rated in the top ten.

Rocky Mattioli (born in Italy, but came here as an infant) was WBC Junior middleweight Champion when the WBA was the only other title, Dave Sands beat Bobo Olsen twice but died in a traffic accident before Olsen became World Champion. Welterweight champions avoided Jack Carroll like the plague, Ron Richards and Fred Henneberry, apart from regularly packing out stadiums to fight each other, both beat men who went on to be world champions. They are just some I would rank above him.

Oh, and let's not forget Jeff Fenech and the immortal Les Darcy.

I think when you represent your state in origin and become the highest paid player in the game its pretty accurate when someone says you are an outstanding player. I dont think the writer said Mundine was the best p4p fighter in aussie history. Boxing has changed a lot in the last 70 years. Thousands of Aussie fighters take it up dreaming of a world title, a handful succeed, Mundine was one of them.

[caveman]

dont think mundine won a fair dinkum title did he ? only won interum or somethin, the only real world title he fought for he got cleaned up

[Brute]

dont think mundine won a fair dinkum title did he ? only won interum or somethin, the only real world title he fought for he got cleaned up

He was WBA Super Middleweight Champion twice, but they had a super champion in the division both times. He also won the IBO Middleweight title but relinquished it to move down to super welterweight.

To give you an idea of what a schemozzle the WBA is, at middleweight they currently have Genady Golovkin as champion, Felix Sturm as Super Champion and
Hassan N'dan N'Jikan as interim champion!

Three champions for one division for one organization? What is the sport coming to?

[bigred83]

dont think mundine won a fair dinkum title did he ? only won interum or somethin, the only real world title he fought for he got cleaned up

He was WBA Super Middleweight Champion twice, but they had a super champion in the division both times. He also won the IBO Middleweight title but relinquished it to move down to super welterweight.

To give you an idea of what a schemozzle the WBA is, at middleweight they currently have Genady Golovkin as champion, Felix Sturm as Super Champion and
Hassan N'dan N'Jikan as interim champion!

Three champions for one division for one organization? What is the sport coming to?

also wasnt N'Jikan orded to fight golovkin for the vacant title at one point? but he didnt want the fight, so instead of saying well tuff titties bud you miss out, they give him a shot at the interim title. and this is one of the "Top Three" organisations, lol.

[Brute]

dont think mundine won a fair dinkum title did he ? only won interum or somethin, the only real world title he fought for he got cleaned up

He was WBA Super Middleweight Champion twice, but they had a super champion in the division both times. He also won the IBO Middleweight title but relinquished it to move down to super welterweight.

To give you an idea of what a schemozzle the WBA is, at middleweight they currently have Genady Golovkin as champion, Felix Sturm as Super Champion and
Hassan N'dan N'Jikan as interim champion!

Three champions for one division for one organization? What is the sport coming to?

also wasnt N'Jikan orded to fight golovkin for the vacant title at one point? but he didnt want the fight, so instead of saying well tuff titties bud you miss out, they give him a shot at the interim title. and this is one of the "Top Three" organisations, lol.

As H G Nelson would say, "It's a joke!"

[caveman]

so wat i said was right wasnt it? it is a bit of a joke,so called 'super champ' is the wba champ, the others r underneath arent they ? wba is slipping down the list of respectability

[Marlin]

Yep.

[myrontheinvincable]

As much as I like Mundines boxing style, particularly his counter punching style, I have no doubt that Mattiolli would have, could have, knocked Mundine senseless on any night. Mattiolli was a vicious fighter and counter puncher, much more seasoned and primed than Anthony Mundine ever was.

[hearns]

The only thing that we can be absolutely, 100% certain about mythical matchups is: we will never know.
Boxing history is full of vicious,seasoned,primed hardpunching fighters who on the night could have,should have
but did'nt win.

[hearns]

so wat i said was right wasnt it? it is a bit of a joke,so called 'super champ' is the wba champ, the others r underneath arent they ? wba is slipping down the list of respectability

Yep, Why cant the WBA be like the respectable WBC who only have a champion,a emeritus champion, a diamond champion, and a silver champion.

[Brute]

When do they get a bronze champion, or would the colour be too close to that of the belt's value?

[caveman]

yeah,the good old days r gone