Tonight at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Anthony Mundine will attempt to become the first man to win titles in three weight divisions in descending order challenging Mexican Rigoberto Alvarez for the vacant WBA interim Junior Middleweight title.
Sounds impressive, right? That’s what they want you to believe.
The fight itself is actually a good, competitive match-up; a rarity in a Mundine fight.
Alvarez, brother of Saul Alvarez, who is currently one of the hottest up and comers in boxing, is a fringe world contender and is the most credible opponent Mundine has faced since his controversial decision win over current Middleweight world titlist Daniel Geale.
The title itself though will be the third paper belt that Mundine will have fought for. Mundine has never been a world champion. He has never proved himself to be in the top five, let alone the best in any of the divisions he’s fought in and this fight is no different.
In order to get this title shot, Mundine blatantly avoided one of the two current WBA champions at this weight Austin Trout and took the fight with Alvarez, who lost to Trout in February in a fight to determine the third titlist in the same division by the same organisation.
Make sense?
Of course it doesn’t and this is how Mundine’s promotional team make it out that he has achieved anything, because boxing isn’t a well reported sport in Australia and all of the sanctioning bodies are more interested in making money rather than actually running the sport properly.
This isn’t the first time Mundine has gone this route for one of his “world titles.” His first WBA super middleweight title that he won was the same with Sven Ottke, who knocked Mundine out cold in the 10th round of their fight two years before, holding the real title.
His second “reign” was no different, this time Mikkel Kessler had the real title having beaten Mundine 18 months before in a title defence and the vacant title only opening up when Kessler unified the titles. Mundine even gave up the belt during his second reign to avoid fighting Kessler in a rematch.
The middleweight title Mundine then won was also illegitimate. Mundine won the IBO title when he defeated Geale in 2009. The IBO isn’t one of the four recognised world titles and Geale was not considered to be a world champion at that point, it was only when Mundine won the fight that anyone claimed it as a real world championship. In fact Geale won the title over another unranked Australian fighter Daniel Dawson and only defended it once over an unranked English boxer.
The IBO recently has favoured Australian based fighters, with the likes of Danny Green, Leonard Zappavinga, Billy Dib, Vic Darchinyan, Lovemore N’Dou, Jackson Asiku and Sakio Bika having all won IBO titles in the last few years despite not defeating world ranked opponents in the process. Mundine’s title was no different.
The other thing about the hype around this fight is the descending order nonsense. Why is it that no other boxer has gone down in weight to win titles? Because usually when you have no one else to fight in your division, you go UP in weight and challenge bigger fighters, not move down and fight someone smaller then you.
It’s stupid.
On both occasions it seems that Mundine has thought that he can’t handle the potential opponents in his current division (Kessler at super middleweight and Geale at middleweight) and has gone down to fight someone smaller.
Mundine versus Alvarez is a good fight. Both guys are on the same level but let’s call a spade a spade.
It’s not a legitimate world title, it’s a fight between two guys who might be in the top 20 fighting for a chance to face one of the better names and there is no history on the line for Mundine.
In fact, I’d rate his father’s achievement of winning three national titles in different weight divisions higher than this farce.
In those days, you had to fight credible opponents to get those titles. You couldn’t get away with handpicking opponents and making up titles to sell yourself as something you’re not.
richard mclachlan
Guest
OK - his on paper titles were not much chop... but why diss his entire career? He beat geale. Geale wne to become a genuine recognized world champion. He Beat Greene. Green went on to become a recognized world champion. Kessler is a bigger man than Mundine. Come fight time, looking at the two, he step into the ring 10 pounds heavier. Mundine was never a big puncher, far better for him to go down weight divisions to make use of his speed. Most boxes go up in weight, because its easier to bulk up than trim down. I'm not saying there is no hype surrounding Mundine, or that his paper victories were great, but you've made "This is why he made this decision" statements that have little basis in fact and ignored the fact he has beaten real fighters, who are now/were recently world champions. Boxing is a business. Fighting trout on shitty terms would have been stupid when instead he could fight as a mandatory challenger... and then Trout would not be able to set any shitty terms for the fight. He beat Alvarez(your credible opponent, Mundine made him look pedestrian) and now is not going to be subjected to the whims of Trout come contract time. It was a smart thing to do.
Oracle
Guest
Great article. and unlike Mundine's "fights" , right on the money..
Davo
Guest
This isn't the only thing in boxing that is a farce. The sport is a farce! Look at the Hopkins v Dawkins - an overflowing night of credibility and integrity. Mayweather vs Ortiz was another ripper of an advertisement for boxing. Who can forget Green vs Briggs? Boxing is "lucky" to have Mundine, cause without him, the media would not cover it. Very sad, but I believeto be true....
Tristan Rayner
Editor
Nice to be recognised Paul!
Tristan Rayner
Editor
There's been a reasonably long standing blackout by some RSL clubs against Mundine. Partly due to him burning a Union Jack in a video clip, partly a complaint about the rising costs we understand.
Mals
Guest
I rang my local, Hornsby RSL and they won't be showing the fight tonight. The receptionist said there is a blackout on Mundine fights in all RSLs. Can anyone confirm this?
Paul Cupitt
Roar Rookie
Yeah that's me.
Australian Rules
Guest
Excellent article. Puts the sport, and Mundine's career, into perspective. I won't say Mundine's a nobody (though this article suggest there may be an argument for that) but for all the crass hyperbole that comes from him and his manager, Khoder Nasser, about being the "best" and the "man" and all that crap...well it puts it in perspective. Good read.
BennO
Guest
Ok thanks John. It does seem to have descended into a bit of a farce. I don't get how professional sportsmen can be satisfied fighting weaker opponents for money knowing they aren't really the best, no matter what they tell themselves. I guess money talks pretty loud. But Mundine isn't respected as much as he could be and surely that's worth a fair bit to a guy.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
In other news, Boxings World Championships are a joke, manipulated by promoters. But I hope it's a good clean fight - I actually respect Mundine as a boxer, even though his record does have a lot of bums of the month, one of whom he lost to.
John
Guest
Hi BennO - it's a funny one... In regards to 'interim', the champion is unable to defend his belt so a new champion is crowned. Since he never lost his belt the old champion is still champion. The new champion is considered a temporary champion. Thankfully, the madness usually stops when the new and old champions unify the belts. The problem is Boxing isn't unified. Too many people looking after themselves has seen the IBO, WBA etc etc split and create all sorts of 'champions'. I don't know enough to comment as an expert, but it's a mess.
BennO
Guest
I've often wondered about this. So "interim" world title basically means second or something, is that right? I don't follow boxing but from what I can gather, kostya tszu and jeff fenech were true world champs, ie ranked number 1 in their divisions, correct? Is mundine close to those two at all? And if not, how far below the equivalent fighters in his division does he sit?
John
Guest
Well, you've pulled no punches Paul. Mundine and his team are clever at hyping up whatever they can, and I'm sure the Main Event sales will do them justice. Alvarez is actually a funny guy - his comments about his house being a boxing ring and his sister beating up was priceless. Ps. Are you the same Paul Cupitt who fights as a NSW amateur? If so, I respect your opinion and appreciate your insight.