Veteran boxer Danny Green says arch-rival Anthony Mundine owes it to the Australian sporting public to give them the rematch they want.
It will be a decade next year since the two did battle, with Mundine then declared the victor in front of 30,000 fans at the Sydney Football Stadium.
In Melbourne to announce a December 2 fight against German Konni Konrad, Green said the return bout with Mundine was long overdue.
“It’s a fight Australia wants to see and it should have happened a long time ago,” Green said.
“Everyone is tired of the excuses; it’s becoming boring.
“I’m ready in one corner and it’s up to the other banana who’s flapping his gums to step up.”
Mundine, who himself is fighting in Melbourne on November 11, said last month he had three stipulations for the fight to go ahead.
He wanted the fight to be at the weight of his choosing, Green to be drug-tested and the indigenous people represented on the Australian flag when he wins.
Green joked that he had sent Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull a photo of Mundine to put on the flag instead.
The 42-year-old West Australian planned to use the fight with Konrad to prepare for Mundine.
Beating Argentine Roberto Bolonti in Melbourne in August, it will be his second contest after almost three years out.
Konrad, 30, will present a much tougher opponent than Bolonti.
He has only lost twice, last month outclassed by fellow German Juergen Braehmer, who retained the WBA light-heavyweight title with a stoppage victory.
Green said he felt some ring rust against Bolonti, which was behind his decision to do back-to-back preparations.
“I wasn’t as sharp as I could have been and I know that and that’s why I want to step up and put two fights together in quick succession for what I anticipate down the track to be a big fight for me,” Green said.
“He’s a hungry young bloke who’s coming to take what I’ve got.
“We’ve chosen a guy who’s going to test me.
Green’s most memorable victory came on the same date in 2009 when he beat eight-time world champion American Roy Jones Jnr, with the fight in Sydney stopped in the first round.
Green said it was coincidence that he was fighting on the same date but hoped for a similar outcome.
“It’s completely coincidental but it does bring back some fantastic memories,” he said.
“To do it in the first round shocked a lot of people, myself included.”
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