Greener pastures await the Green Machine

Australian boxer Danny Green and Croation Stipe Drews - AAP Image/Tony McDonough

The world of boxing is Danny Greens’ oyster following his destruction of Roy Jones Jnr this week. Whilst Danny has always had considerable support in Australia, his destruction of Roy Jones will catapult him into the spotlight in America.

As I write this article, the tape delay of the Green-Jones fight is being shown on US network Versus as part of a co-main feature between Green Vs Jones and Bernard Hopkins Vs Enrique Ornelas: a marketing ploy to hype the expected Hopkins Vs Jones clash that was meant to take place on March 13th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

And a fight estimated to be worth upwards of $10 million per fighter.

The fight with Danny Green was about restoring the credibility of Roy Jones, as a win over a solid opponent and the winning of a world title would tell the fans that Roy Jones was back and add more interest, and thus more dollars, to the fight with Hopkins.

All that has happened, though, is a push for Danny Green as the new man on the US boxing scene.

There is a chance that Green could take the Hopkins fight off Jones, although at a dramatically reduced fee. But Green is not seen as a big enough draw to the US public, who would have come to know of him through the Jones fight.

Another option for Green is a fight with Poland’s Tomasz Adamek, the same man who had two wars with the now retired Paul “Hurricane” Briggs.

There was reports during the week that Green had looked to get Adamek out to Australia when he decided to come out of retirement. Adamek has had held world titles, though in Light-Heavyweight and Cruiserweight, like Green.

But Adamek seems to have his sights set on a move to Heavyweight, where he debuted in impressive fashion a fortnight ago with a win over fellow Polish fighter and former Heavyweight champ, Andrew Golota.

There has been some talk overnight that Adamek is favoured to step in for Jones in the Bernard Hopkins fight, given his huge support in the Polish communities in America.

The option that many have been talking about is a rematch with rival, Anthony “The Man” Mundine.

There is no doubt of the interest in the rematch, but I doubt that this will happen so quickly. Given that Green fights at Light Heavyweight/Cruiserweight and Mundine now fights as a Middleweight, Mundine would have to take on a lot of weight quickly to fight at the Light Heavyweight limit, as it is now impossible for Green to fight any lower than this.

Also complicating things is the fact that Mundine is scheduled to face “Deadley” Rob Medley in January (who is a natural welterweight) and reportedly has contracts in place for fighting the winner of “The Contender Australia”, along with a mandatory rematch with Daniel Geale.

All of which means that a fight with Green would only take place in late 2010.

Green does not need to rush into a fight with Anthony Mundine. But no matter what option The Green Machine takes, there is one thing you can be sure of: The Money and The Glory await!

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