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Anthony Mundine is poised to relinquish a world title fight with American super-welterweight champion Austin Trout in favour of a potential bout with Rocky Balboa.
In a puzzling move set to strengthen critics’ arguments that he is avoiding serious fights, Mundine announced at a press conference in his father Tony’s Redfern gym that he was going to focus on securing a one-off fight against the man dubbed ‘The Italian Stallion’.
“When I travelled to America recently to speak with Top Rank Promotions about the prospect of fighting Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao, both of whom would of course be honoured to fight me, I started hearing stories about this Balboa punk,” Mundine told confused reporters.
“So I watched a couple of documentaries about him and realised he was the guy I was going to fight next. And I’m going to pound him because I’m the man.”
When it was suggested that Mundine was avoiding quality opponents, he replied, “ain’t no-one bigger than this Rocky dude. Except me. I’m the man.”
Boxing experts failed to agree, stating that choosing not to fight the undefeated WBA champion Trout would cost Mundine what little credibility he has left.
Mundine’s manager Khoder Nasser, who represents another credible up-and-coming champion in Sonny Bill Williams, says he fully supports the 36-year-old’s desire to take on Balboa.
“This will be the biggest fight in Australian boxing history,” Nasser told reporters this morning. “I just have to get onto Balboa’s manager, this Mickey guy, he doesn’t seem to be returning any of my calls…”
While there has been no comment as yet from the 78-year-old Balboa regarding the Mundine fight, it is commonly accepted that he has never been one to shirk a contest.
Mundine hopes to schedule a bout against the former heavyweight world champion this coming April.
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