The Man in Mundine knows if it's the end

Anthony “The Man” Mundine learnt a lesson on Wednesday night from a school familiar to the careers of many recent big names. Names such as Ricky Hatton, Roy Jones Jr, Kosta Tszyu, Paul Briggs, and Jeff Fenech have all felt the quick and crushing fall from the top to bottom in boxing.

Ricky Hatton’s name was hung on the marquee at Las Vegas in the biggest super fight of the year with Manny Pacquiao, only for his name as a boxer to become mud after a devastating knockout only two rounds into the fight.

Ricky Hatton ended the career of Kostya Tszyu, in a similar manner to Wood’s victory over Mundine.

Hatton was the young Manchester underdog who was given a chance by no one. But through heart, hard work, and rushing Tszyu at every instant, he prevailed and made Tzsyu quit on his stool for the first time in his career.

Roy Jones was also the golden boy of boxing, until he ran into consecutive knockouts to Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson. Now he is a shell of his former self, living off his name alone, and enhancing unworthy fighter’s legacies whilst hurting his own.

Jeff Fenech went from the super fight with Azumah Nelson to suffering a string of knockouts in ensuing fights.

Paul Briggs went from two wars with Tomasz Adamak, to a close points win over Rupert Van Aswegen. Three years later came the calamity that was his fight with Danny Green, where one innocuous looking punch from Green turned the bout into a farce.

That’s the thing with boxing. One minute you can have all the answers, and then in one fight, one round, one punch, it will all be over.

I personally don’t think Mundine’s career is over, I feel he has a lot to give, but needs to get back to fighting the way which made him so successful in the Super Middleweight Division.

I feel now he is in the lighter divisions of Middleweight and Junior-Middleweight, he thinks he has superior power and looks to go for the knock-out, leaving himself open. We saw many examples of it in his fight with Ryan Waters and of course we saw evidence in his defeat against Wood.

Maybe criticism recently of his poor knock-out record in recent years has seen him look for a big knock-out. Maybe he saw his best chance (as most did) in Garth Wood.

Maybe he was so eager to be devastating he left the fundamentals at home? Maybe he just got sloppy?

It is clear that Mundine has slowed, he is not as fast in his movement as he once was. His hand speed is still strong, but he cannot “get in and out” as he once did. This means he is getting hit more after throwing.

Roy Jones does the same thing, and his ego wont allow him to make the needed adjustment, and as a consequence he continues to get knocked out, like Danny Green. Mundine needs to change his technique in this area and alter his game plan to one that is more catered to his skills today.

If Mundine sticks behind his jab and uses his hand speed behind a tight defence, I see no reason why he can’t again be successful.

Amir Khan was knocked out devastatingly two years ago by the unknown Breidis Prescott. The much trumpeted Khan was knocked down twice and eventually knocked out inside the first round.

Almost all of the boxing fraternity worldwide wrote Khan off, admonishing his chin and declaring him simply not good enough.

Khan went away and trained harder than ever. He aligned himself with Freddy Roach and returned with a tighter defence, a more rounded technique and a fresh attitude.

What followed was wins against Oesin Fagan, Marco Antonio Barrera, Andreas Kotelnik, Dmitry Salita and Pauly Malignaggi. With this five-fight win streak came the WBA World Light-Welterweight Title, and as I write this Khan is hours away from a Vegas super fight with 30-1 Argentine, Marcos Maidana. (Ed note: Khan won a memorable bout and survived more than a few tests to his suspect chin).

Khan has shown the evidence that Mundine can turn things around. Both are similar type of fighters, who rely on fast hands and like to put on a show.

The turning point in Khans career is eerily similar to that of Mundine.

Khan had amassed an undefeated record like Mundine before his career was stunted by the Preidis knockout. Did Khan get carried away in the fact he had been winning fights with ease, fighting fighters it must be said who are a class below (similar to Mundine’s chose of opponents in recent times)?

The Wood knockout could be the wake-up call Mundine needed. If he can go away and look himself in the eye and make the changes needed, there is nothing to say that he, like Amir Khan, can prove all the doubters wrong and become a world champion again.

But if he looks in the mirror and feels he no longer has the skills to compete at the highest level, then he must give the game away. I feel this will not to be the case, as mentioned above; I believe he can bounce back.

But he must not continue, in the manner of so many fighters who have come before him and tarnish what has been, opinions aside, one of the most successful careers in Australian boxing history.

I sit typing this in an internet cafe, ironically in Philadelphia – the home of Rocky Balboa – a legend (albeit fictional) who bounced back through all adversity.

I leave Mundine with this quote, passed down by the great man himself:

“It ain’t about how hard you hit… It’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward… how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done. Now, if you know what you worth, go out and get what you worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers saying: You ain’t what you wanna be because of him or her or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You´re better than that!” Rocky Balboa.