Mundine and Green Set Up 30 Million Dollar Rematch

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Former WBC super middleweight and former WBA light heavyweight titleholder Danny Green etched a step closer towards a $30 million dollar (AUD) pay day with fellow Australian Anthony Mundine after dominating Kane Watts – A full-time plumber – over 10 rounds for the Australian Cruiserweight title in Melbourne.

Watts was intended as a stay-busy opponent to make Danny Green – 43 – look shiny to the Australian public.

Green sustained a cut above his right eye as he labored towards a unanimous win by scores of 99-89, 99-89 and 98-99 with Australian rival Mundine ringside.

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Anthony Mundine

Ahead of the fight, Mundine spoke to KIIS FM Sydney’s Hughesy & Kate, where credited Green’s success to his own popularity in Australia. “He built his name off me, nobody would know who he was if it wasn’t for me. I put him on the map, he’d be playing in an RSL if it wasn’t for me,” he said.
Despite both being past their primes and the lack of importance of this fight on the world stage, Mundine and Green have agreed to a 30 million dollar rematch to their 2006 bout when Mundine dominated Green en route to a 12 round decision at Super-Middleweight. It was one of the most anticipated in Australian boxing history.

There has been speculation that the rematch will be fought at Cruiserweight – four weight divisions higher than Mundine’s last fight was when he fought Charles Hatley at Super Welterweight in Melbourne back in November 2015. Hatley stopped Mundine in 11 rounds to become WBC Super welterweight title holder Jermell Charlo’s mandatory challenger.

Mundine – 41 – looked flat and uninterested in his last fight and neither fighter have shown any signs of their younger counterparts.

While the Australian mainstream media attention focussed on the possible Mundine Vs Green rematch, another Australian boxer – Will Tomlinson – was preparing for the next bout on his comeback trail – after his brutal loss to Francisco Vargas – against Hurricane Futa in Melbourne.

Tomlinson vented his criticism of the Australian media for favoring their attention to Mundine and Green rather than Australian fighters with greater current legitimacy, “But it is frustrating and the biggest part is the media. You guys have the ability to talk up the Green-Mundine as if it really means something. I have fought at the highest level of the sport and went to the US to do my time. Very few have done that. But my story doesn’t get told in the same detail,” he told the Herald Sun.

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Will Tomlinson

“I could have stayed in the US and continued to fight with Golden Boy because the window hasn’t closed for me over there but I didn’t want to live out of my suitcase anymore. I’m 30 and have to look seriously at setting myself up,” he said.

Tomlinson was knocked out in the first round against Futa and has since announced his retirement from the sport, unbeknown to the greater Australian public.

If a rematch between two faded fighters – which has no bearing on the rest of the world – can generate 30 million dollars in Australia, it shows that the sport has the potential to be quite lucrative down under.

The Australian media plays an integral role in promoting the sport and securing financial success for all Australian boxers. To ensure it’s survival in Australia, they need to pay more attention to the Will Tomlinson, Jeff Horns, and Billy Dibs in addition to the entertaining trash talkers like Anthony Mundine.