As Anthony Mundine versus Danny Green II is fast approaching, I thought we’d have a look at some of Mundine’s best performances in the ring so far, with a fight record of 47-7-0 there are plenty to pick from.
He has had an up and down career but has always been noticeable with some of the best rivalries and fights this country has ever seen. For this list, I’m considering overall ring performance, not whether he won or lost – like in many sports you can have the match or fight of your life and still not win and you can have some shocking ones and still somehow get the win.
So with here are what I believe to be the top ten Anthony Mundine performances.
10. Joshua Clottey 2014 WBA international super welterweight title
After his win over Shane Mosley to win this title, Mundine was on a pathway to fight Floyd Mayweather – or so he thought. But first, he put up his new title against Joshua Clottey, a former IBF welterweight champ.
Although he was dominated from the start and took a beating, getting knocked down five times, Mundine showed a tonne of guts and heart to keep getting up and fight through until the end. I don’t know many fighters who would of take that kind of beating and keep going.
This fight proved what sort of calibre of fighter Mundine really was and showed he was not prepared to give up easily. It would go the distance but he would lose by unanimous decision.
9. Sven Ottke 2001 IBF super middleweight title
In his eleventh professional fight, Mundine had the opportunity to challenge then-champ Sven Ottke in Germany. Mundine, from the outset, dominated Ottke and was ahead on points by the tenth round, but in boxing, one punch can change a fight.
Ottke, not known as a power or one-punch fighter, landed a temple shot on Mundine, knocking him out before he hit the ground. The local tavern in Rocky where I watched the fight cheered and screamed with laughter as he hit the canvas. Many thought and hoped it would end his career but it did not. Mundine recovered from this and fought on. Although he lost, it is was still a great performance by Choc.
8. Garth Wood II 2011
After his shock five-round loss to Garth Wood, a former NRL player himself and the winner of the Australian Contender, Mundine was out for revenge to prove the first fight was just a fluke for Wood. In a ten-round dominance, Mundine knocked Wood down twice and won every round clearly. He would avenge the first loss and move onto the bigger and better challenges.
7. Ryan Walters 2010
Just before Mundine fought Wood, he took on Ryan Walters. Choc dominated the fight and it was stopped in the 10th round with Mundine knocking down Walters three times in the tenth round. This would tie with his fight with Guy Walters in 2001.
6. Shane Mosley 2013 WBA international super welterweight title
This took a double take to get the fight done. After a pay dispute and Mosley returning to the States the day before the first fight was to take place, Mundine found himself going to America with an open wallet to lure Mosley back to Australia.
Once the formalities were taken care of they finally hit the ring in November of 2013. From the outset, Mundine was clearly on top of the fight, winning every round. In the fourth round, Mosley was caught up with Mundine and suffered a back injury. He would continue to fight but would have to retire injured at the end of the sixth round.
This was a massive win for Mundine and the biggest scalp of his career – no one had ever stopped Mosley.
5. Antwun Echols 2003 WBA super middleweight title
This was Mundine’s first fight for the WBA title. He took the opportunity and won by a unanimous points decision after twelve rounds.
4. Sergey Rabchenko 2014 WBC silver super welterweight title
After his devastating loss to Josh Clottey, Mundine was given another crack to become the number one contender for Floyd Mayweather (along with about four others). He would face undefeated Sergey Rabchenko, trained by the man who ended Kostya Tszyu’s career, Ricky Hatton.
Mundine was able to rewind the clock back a decade with a stand-up performance and trouble him in the tenth, almost getting a knock-down. Mundine kept the pressure on and won by split decision, earning him the title and firmly having Floyd Mayweather in his sites. Unfortunately, he would lose the title to Charles Hatley in his next fight, therefore never getting the chance to fight Mayweather.
3. Danny Green 2006 WBA super middleweight eliminator
This was the biggest fight in Australia history, beating the old record of Fenech vs Nelson II. After a four or five-year dance around each other, the two finally fought at the Sydney Football Stadium in front of more than 37,000 fans and millions of pay-TV viewers around the country.
Mundine was dominant from the opening bell and schooled Green in every round, however Green claimed that he was “weight drained” and could not put up a competitive fight. Mundine would win a unanimous decision and both fighters would go their separate ways, bringing success to their respective careers.
2. Daniel Geale I 2009 IBO middleweight title
This was a controversial fight due to the delays with Mundine’s gloves, but it was still was one of his best fights. Going down to middleweight, Mundine fought fellow Aussie and Tasmanian fighter Geale, the then-undefeated IBO champ.
With the first round being hard to split, Mundine landed a left hook on Geale’s chin sending him to the canvas in the second round. From there, the fight was on and competitive to the final bell with neither fighter giving away any advantage. The judges gave the fight to Mundine via split decision and he claimed the title.
1. Sam Soliman II WBA super middleweight title
This was Mundine’s best performance. In his second meeting with Soliman, six years after their first meeting that ended in a controversial split decision to Mundine, he put all of his doubters to rest in this fight.
The fight was a total domination – Mundine knocked down Soliman four times in the fight and three in the ninth round alone. With Soliman having no answer for Mundine’s attack, the fight was stopped in the ninth round earning Mundine his second reign as WBA super middleweight champion.
There was no stopping Choc in this fight and it remains his most dominant performance in the ring to this day, with no other fight coming close.
Did you agree with my list? What is your favourite Mundine fight?
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