Can Anthony Mundine end the unbeaten run of Sergey Rabchenko, at the Hisense Arena, and set up a potential meeting with Floyd Mayweather for a world title?
That’s the scenario as the two fight each other on Wednesday night, with the main fight to kick off at around 10pm after the undercard begins at 7:30pm. The winner of the bout will claim – or reclaim in Rabchenko’s case – the WBC Silver Light Middleweight Title.
If Mundine wins the title, he will aim to face either Mayweather or Saul Alvarez, for the WBC Light Middleweight title. According to his manager they will aim to hold the big bout at the MCG if Mundine is able to entice one of the two boxers.
First things first though, he has to get past Rabchenko, who is undefeated in professional boxing.
The Belarussian is 25 wins and 0 losses since debuting in 2006.
A win against Mundine would also put Rabchenko into contention for a world title. While the rewards for a win from Mundine are high in this bout, there are also consequences for the Australian if he loses.
After losing in April to Joshua Clottey, another loss to Rabchenko could end his career, and give Mundine successive losses for the first time in his boxing career.
At 39 years of age, a Mundine loss could spell the end of a decorated and talked about career.
It is a big night for the New South Welshman. Here is all you need to know about the bout.
KEY FIGHT INFORMATION
Venue: Hisense Arena, Melbourne, Australia
Length: 12 rounds
Record:
– Anthony Mundine – 46-6 (27 knockouts, 19 on points decision)
– Sergey Rabchenko – 25-0 (18 knockouts, 7 on points decision)
Odds
– Rabchenko $1.22 Mundine $4.00
Odds by decision
– Rabchenko Decision – $2
– Rabchenko KO or TKO – $2.8
– Mundine KO or TKO – $5
– Mundine Decision – $11
– Draw $26
UNDERCARD –
Lucas Browne v Chauncy Welliver
Cory Patterson v Michael Lua Tama
Lenny Zappavinga v Miseal Castillo
Main Event: Anthony Mundine v Sergey Rabchenko
TV SCHEDULE:
Main Event is the official and exclusive broadcaster of the fight.
Their coverage starts at 7:30pm AEDT and includes all four fights on the card.
The price is $49.95.
BIGGEST STORYLINES TO WATCH FOR
Can Mundine survive 12 rounds against Rabchenko?
In Rabchenko’s 25 wins in professional boxing, 19 have come through a knockout.
After losing to Clottey in April, in a unanimous decision, there are doubts as to whether Mundine can survive twelve rounds against Rabchenko.
In four of his six last bouts, Rabchenko has won by either a knockout or technical knockout, within the first eight rounds. He is described as an active puncher and has dominated his opponents since entering the professional arena.
His manager, Ricky Hatton, says he has Mundine covered in every department and should win in a knockout.
The punters agree and have heavily backed against Mundine in Wednesday night’s fight.
It seems the odds are against Mundine in this bout with Rabchenko looking strong for the contest.
Can Mundine pull off the upset against Rabchenko?
Love him, or loathe him, Mundine knows how to prove the critics wrong when he needs to. Wednesday’s fight is the perfect bout to do just that.
Everyone doubts whether he can win, and most predict he won’t survive 12 rounds. Mundine though will have other ideas and plan to win his way.
He’s done it before and he will try to do it again on Wednesday. The key for Mundine is to have the bout fought on his terms.
Those terms will be mental as Mundine looks to beat Rabchenko in the mind by out foxing him. This is the Belarussian’s first fight outside of Europe, and Mundine will be looking to take advantage of that, by making sure he is nervous for the occasion.
If Mundine can do that, and make Rabchenko gun shy in the first few rounds, then he becomes a chance with a points decision win.
Don’t be surprised if Mundine tries some tactics to unsettle Rabchenko and win the fight.
PREDICTION
This will be a tough fight for Mundine to win.
He didn’t look convincing in his last bout, and he faces a fighter who looks on paper to be better than Clottey, who he lost to. Rabchenko’s undefeated for a big reason.
He packs a big punch that no one has been able to stop in 25 fights. It looks unlikely that Mundine will stop him in his 26th fight. This fight looks to be the last for Mundine.
I believe he will lose and Rabchenko will move on to a world title fight.
If Rabchenko does win, then it ends the career of Mundine, who will almost have no other option but to retire.
He will be remembered as one of the greats but he will also be remembered for his out of the ring comments. Boxing won’t be the same without Mundine if he loses on Wednesday.
He will be hard to replace in the sport.
Rabchenko to win in a knockout in under 10 rounds.
Nigel Leitch
Guest
Rabchenko a proven puncher? Against what opposition? To get his belt he beat a guy who was ranked 195 in the world, the highest ranked boxer he has fought was ranked 59.
Russ Stewart
Guest
Mundine is certainly a formidable opponent when he decides to be and I believe that he will put on a great display in the first half of the fight. Oftentimes Choc' can ignore the basics of the sport and when faced with a European fighter schooled in the art of defence I believe that the second half of the fight could prove his undoing. In Mundine's previous fight with Clottey he entered the ring wearing Nike Runners, a no - no for a boxer. This limited any lateral movement. His groin guard/protector was at chest height for most of the fight signalling where he felt weakest. Mundine has found it difficult to create his own brand of fighting. In the early part of his career he modelled himself on Roy Jones, and later tried to emulate Mayweather's defence style. In fighting has never been in Choc's arsenal as he showed against Clottey. He could well find it difficult for 12 rounds against Sergey if he plans to keep moving away as it's just too hard to do against a proven puncher that has the boxing nouse to match.
Nigel Leitch
Guest
The guy he won the belt from Bradley Pryce was actually ranked 195th in the world. Rabchenko has only ever fought in five 12 round contests and the quality of his first ten opponents is hilarious.I am astounded that Rabchenko is the favourite in this fight.
Johnno
Guest
Nigel that's a good point.
Nigel Leitch
Guest
Rabchenko has never beaten anyone ranked higher than 59 in the world, he got his belt by beating a fighter ranked 139 in the world.
Realist 1975
Guest
I hope Mundine wins but I sense he will get knocked out. Rabchenko is 11 years younger and I can't see Mundine beating this guy on endurance given his age, nor does Mundine possess a knock out punch like Rabchenko so either way it will be a miracle for Mundine to win. Nevertheless I wish him well tomorrow night.
Andrew George
Roar Guru
Good summary. I will be in the minority here but I think Mundine may be able to win this. He has fought much bigger and more dangerous punchers than this kid (read Danny Green, Mikkel Kessler and Antwun Echols). When he focuses on making them miss and stays cagey he can beat anyone. It just depends which Mundine turns up. Historically he has performed when all attention is on him and his back is to the wall in both League and boxing. Its when he switches off and gets lazy (Siaca, Wood and Clottey) that he gets beaten. His comeback fights are normally emphatic victories. I would love to see him go on and challenge one of the topi names as it would be up there with Mark Hunt for sports stories.