MANNY Pacquiao was sunning himself by the boxing glove-shaped swimming pool at his gilded palace in General Santos City, the Philippines yesterday – or so the story goes – when his wife Jinkee ran out to him all breathless in joyful excitement.
On hearing her stunning news, a wide-eyed Pacquiao is said to have made the sign of the cross, fallen to his knees and mouthed a silent “Thank you” towards the heavens.
Garth Wood had saved him.
He wouldn’t have to fight Anthony Mundine after all.
I’m being facetious of course but no more facetious than Mundine who for the last decade has played the Australian public for fools, calling out all the great champions of his era ? Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones ? while ripping off the fans with hollow boasts and fights against hand-picked foes from Rent-A-Victim.
With better management and more courage, Mundine could have been remembered as a tremendous boxer.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
At his best five or six years ago he had the speed, the reflexes and sometimes even the punch to challenge the world’s best ? but history will remember him instead as a fighter propelled by hot air rather than heart.
Nine years ago I sat just two feet from him as he lay prone, arms outstretched, after he was decked by the usually feather-fisted Sven Ottke in their supermiddleweight world title bout in Germany.
Mundine, who had been winning the fight early, later admitted that he wasn’t unconscious, just exhausted.
A fighter with real heart would have gotten up but Mundine knew he could keep selling tickets to future bouts just by shooting his mouth off. Money rather than respect was always his goal.
Finally, on Wednesday night, in the fifth round at Sydney’s Acer Arena, Australian boxing’s most notorious punchline ran into its most underrated puncher.
Garth Wood dropped Mundine with a volley of punches and Mundine couldn’t beat the count.
Jeff Fenech, in Wood’s corner, couldn’t contain his glee after having been Mundine’s bitter rival.
Fenech had extra reason to celebrate, revealing many of Wood’s friends had backed the real-life Rocky for a motza to knock Mundine out early.
Mundine went into Wednesday night’s fight as the No.2 contender for Miguel Cotto’s WBA junior-middleweight title but at 35 he can forget about fighting him, Pacquiao, Mayweather or any of the big names.
Given his lack of resistance to punches and the fact he was exposed by an opponent with just nine previous wins, he should also stay well clear of Aussie rivals Sakio Bika, Lovemore Ndou and even the much smaller Michael Katsidis, who all want a piece of his carcass.
The best fight for Mundine now is a rematch with Wood. Fully motivated and focused on redemption, Mundine would still be a good chance to win a return fight against an opponent who admits he’s strong but still a long way short of world class.
It would also offer both boxers a massive payday and that has always been Mundine’s motivation.
