Can Anthony Mundine Reverse the Aussie Annus Horribilis?
By Mark McKenna
There’s no point denying the truth – 2014 has been a miserable year for Australian boxing.
An ‘Annus Horibilis ‘ translated in Latin means ‘horrible year’ and sums up the last 11 months perfectly for the land down under’s star performers. A quick snapshot of the year to date:-
* March-unbeaten ‘Wild’ Will Tomlinson makes his stateside debut and is outscored by Jerry Belmontes
* May-Vic Darchinyan knocked out in 5 by WBA Featherweight champion Nicholas Walters
* July-Daniel Geale halted in three by rising star Gennady Golovkin for the ‘real’ WBA Middleweight strap
* August-Blake Caparello halted in two by Sergey Kovalev for WBO Light Heavyweight belt
* August – Jarrod Fletcher stopped in five by Brooklynite Daniel Jacobs for the WBA 160 lb belt
* August – Daniel Dawson loses a UD to former world champion Austin Trout
* For Heavyweight Alex Leapai back to back losses, first to Wladimir Klitschko by KO for the Heavyweight title in April and then loses a wide UD to Malik Scott in October
* October-Michael Katsidis stopped in two rounds by Tommy Coyle
The win loss ledger for Australia doesn’t look brilliant initially – but on second glance the opposition faced has been steep and unforgiving.
An assortment of divisional superstars, pure punchers and savvy ex champions – usually on their home turf – has been the status quo so poor results needs to be put into context.
With only a month to go to close out the year former world title holder Anthony ‘The Man’ Mundine looks to reverse the doldrums with a win over unbeaten Sergey Rabchenko this Wednesday night in Melbourne.
At 39 years of age this looks to be Mundine’s last roll of the dice and his final chance to make a dent in the rankings and perhaps enter the Mayweather sweepstakes.
His last fight in April was a disaster in terms of mental preparation and the final result was as one sided as a pistol whipping. Joshua Clottey simply beat up Mundine over twelve rounds scoring five knockdowns en route.He did everything except knock out ‘The Man’
Watching the fight that night Mundine, 46-6, 27 KO’s looked impotent.
His punches had zero effect on the rugged Ghanaian and he looked visibly gun shy. Wether this was the old adage of growing old overnight is unknown. As it stands Mundine must be given credit for jumping back into the mix against a young, tough foe and showing guts where plenty of other fighters may have thrown in the towel.
Belarusian Rabchenko, 25-0, 18 KO’s is promoted by Ricky Hatton’s fledgling outfit and comes to Australia as an unknown entity. Most of his fights have been in his native land with a few UK bouts in the mix. Possibly his most impressive ‘W’ is a KO 7 over former veteran Ryan Rhodes in 2012 with the rest of his opposition being tough eastern bloc no names.At 28 he is in the prime of his life ; the Mundine camp haven’t chosen a confidence builder after the Clottey debacle so this fight screams ‘do or die’ from their perspective and Mundine himself acknowledges this.
“This is do or die for me … the be-all and end-all, I know that”
2014 so far has been a break out year for a number of fighters.Nicholas Walters has entered the fistic consciousness with his demolitions of Darchinyan and Donaire.
Golovkin announced his presence with quick stops of durable Geale in Madison Square Garden and a walk in the park against Marco Antonio Rubio.
Rabchenko looks at this as his chance to make his mark on the world stage.
How better to do this with an impressive victory over a former champion?
Knowing that this could be his last chance Mundine will look to dominate with the jab from the outset and get a rhythm going early on. Although he may be ahead on the cards the script for this will be similar to Rachenko’s win over Rhodes – a stoppage from round 6 onwards looks probable based on current form for the youngster.A victory for Mundine if it does come will likely be on points in a contest filled with plenty of movement and mauling with Mundine shutting down his opponent’s momentum. Either way it promises to be an intriguing fight and hopefully a win for Anthony Mundine will finish an otherwise desultory year for Australian fans.
The fight card on Wednesday is one of the best in this country in some time.
With 10 fights listed on boxrec.com some of the more entertaining bouts lined up are Light Welterweight Lenny Zappavigna, 32-2, 22 KO’s vs big punching Misael Castillo, 26-3, 24 KO’s. Zappavigna fought for the IBF Lightweight belt in 2011 against Miguel Vazquez and lost a wide points verdict but has been looking to rebuild at the higher weight.
Unbeaten Heavyweight Lucas ‘Big Daddy’ Browne,21-0, 18 KO’s faces New Zealand domiciled veteran Chauncy Welliver, 55-8-5, 22 KO’s and looks to score a KO over a rugged campaigner who has only lost inside the distance twice in 68 bouts.
Unbeaten Junior Lightweight Kye McKenzie, 12-0, 10 KO’s faces off with former world title challenger Clive Atwell, 12-1-1, 7 KO’s. McKenzie has been matched tough here but looks to announce his presence after building up a strong record against veterans and journeymen. Atwell’s lone loss was a technical verdict defeat to WBC Featherweight boss Jhonny Gonzalez in May.