What do you guys think of him? I used to hate him with a passion. By I heard he's nothing like the way he is in real life compared to that on camera. I used to root against him pretty much all the time. I was a happy man to see Ottke Knock him out and Kessler get the win over here in Oz. Mundine beat Manny Siaca for a world title. What version of it I'm not even sure and looking back on Siaca's record it doesn't exactly do him any justice. Mundine was a great athlete and did well coming from a Rugby League back ground. Looking back he's better than what I thought and at least he did fight some good fighters. He's a lot better than the overhyped wack jobs we have these days, even if Mundine was an overhyped wack job himself. **** I hate the Aussie boxing media. They suit what they do actually seeing as though there are so many hangers on to boxers. A good fighter for his country but seemed as though when he fought a few of the '' world class '' opponents he got exposed. Sergey Rabchenko was 25-0 I believe when they fought and old man mundine beat him via split decision. Rabchenko lost 4 of his last 9 after that, seems like he was a nobody too, unless you had listened to the Australian boxing media.
Considering he only had 4 amatuer fights as a kid then was focused on Rugby League and being rated as one of the best players in the NRL before switching to pro boxing at age 25 shows what an incredible athlete he was. A two time WBA Super Middleweight champion with good wins against the likes of Green, Soliman (first man to knock him out), Geale, Echols. Also winning the Australian super middleweight title by TKO against veteran Marc Bagero in only his 5th pro fight was pretty impressive. He was giving Ottke all he could handle before getting stopped, keep in mind it was only his 11th pro fight. His career after a while was poorly managed he should've stayed at 168 he got weaker moving down to 160 and even weaker at 154. I always thought that after Sakio Bika won the contender that Mundine should've fought him at 168 it would've been a big fight in Australia. Mundine's resume although not outstanding has a lot of Aussie veterans and former world title challengers on it he never ducked any of his domestic rivals they all made a lot of money fighting Anthony Mundine. He was a very good fighter he had elite hand speed and an elite jab also had a lot of heart especially the back end of his career where he took a lot of unnecessary beatings. If he never played Rugby League and focused on boxing from a young age I genuinely think he could've been Australia's greatest ever fighter.
Gee I didn't know that he fought Sven just in his 11th pro fight. I heard that re management also. A few of the boys reckon he should have gone to America sooner to get some better fights.
Yeah he was 10-0 going into the Ottke fight. Crazy he went all the way down to 154 considering during his NRL days he was close to about 190. I don't even think he had to go to the US he had good financial backing in Australia. They should've just kept him at 168 maybe 160 as I think at the time he probably could've beaten Felix Sturm.
yeah **** going down in weight is silly. Especially being about 190 naturally in his playing days. When you cut down from 190 to 168, then drop even more it makes a massive difference.
I still don't understand why he did it? In 2007 after he dominated Green and destroyed Soloman, he was one of the best SM in the world, even gave a prime Kessler a tough fight and I think he had the ability to beat him if he was not so tentative. He had a great combination of speed , skill and athleticism then decided to waste his time beating up on local bums and move down in weight. He could have made it big in the states with his skill and personality. Wasted his talent imo despite a good career. The WBA titles were all regular belts, the only real title he won was the IBO off Geale. Sad to see he is pretty punchy these days also.
yeah good call. Good fight that one with Kessler. He was a great fighter. Gave Calzaghe one almighty run for his money.
Yeah I also thought if Mundine wasn’t so tentative that he could’ve beat Kessler it was mainly activity that won Kessler the fight, Mundine actually landed a lot of the cleaner shots.
Yes, I saw an interview with him and he looks pretty rough. A shame altho at one time I definitely did not like him. Him getting cold cocked by Ottke has to be one of the more surprising things I've ever seen happen in a fight.
It was a great moment when Sven knocked him out cold. He was talented though and was a top fighter at SMW for a bit.
