Two former world champions go head-to-head ‘Down Under’ on Wednesday when Anthony Mundine and Joshua Clottey clash for the WBA International light middleweight title.
What seemed implausible a couple of years ago now seems a possibility, and if Australia?s Mundine can defeat former IBF welterweight champion Clottey at the Entertainment Center in Newcastle, New South Wales, he could be in line for a crack at pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather.
38-year-old Mundine (46-5, 27 KOs) has long believed that he has the skills to trouble Mayweather, but when he was flattened in five rounds by ten-bout novice Garth Wood in 2010, such a fight seemed like pie-in-the-sky. Mundine avenged the loss to Wood the following year, and after a series of victories highlighted by his points win over Rigoberto Alvarez in 2011 for the WBA interim light middleweight title, he earned himself a January 2013 shot at fellow Aussie Daniel Geal?s IBF middleweight title.
Mundine, then 37, found Geale just too big, too young, too fit and too busy and was comfortably outpointed. Undeterred, last November Mundine fought former three-weight world champion and future Hall of Famer Shane Mosley, and became the first and only man to stop the American when the 42-year-old Mosley failed to come out for the eighth round, citing a shoulder injury.
In January this year, Mundine stayed busy with a one-sided 10 round decision over New Zealand?s Gunnar Jackson. He is currently ranked 3rd by the WBA at light middleweight.
Mundine is a true marmite figure in Australian sport. An Aboriginal who has embraced Islam, he often divides public opinion with his outspoken comments, none more so than for his sympathetic stance on the September 11th attackers. A former top flight rugby player, Mundine played professional rugby for seven years prior to embarking on his pro boxing career aged 24. Despite the late start, he has nevertheless carved out a credible career for himself.
Domestically Mundine?s fights have made more money and pulled higher pay-per-view figures than any other Australian fighter. He has twice been a world champion, capturing the vacant WBA super middleweight title with a 12 round decision over Antoine Echols in 2003, and winning the WBA belt a second time with a ninth round KO of fellow Australian Sam Solimon in 2007.
Mundine has boxed many high-profile fighters during his 14 year career including Guy Walters (W KO 4), Sven Ottke (L KO 10 for the IBF super middleweight title), Lester Ellis (W TKO 3), Manny Siaca (L 12 losing his WBA super middleweight belt) and Mikkel Kessler (L 12 for the WBA super middleweight title).
In 2006, he fought Australian boxing icon Danny Green in the country?s biggest ever domestic fight, and won a unanimous decision.
At his best, Mundine is a smooth boxer in the Mayweather mold who – while not a KO puncher – hits hard enough to get his opponents attention. On Wednesday he fights former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey, a hard his nails Bronx-based Ghanaian famous for taking a peak Manny Pacquiao the distance.
36-year old Joshua Clottey (37-4, 22 KOs) is known for his almost impregnable defense (high guard, granite chin), solid boxing skills and KO power.
After failing in his first world title attempt against Antonio Margarito three years earlier, in 2006 Clottey won the IBF welterweight title on a technical decision when Zab Judah was forced to retire after nine rounds with a badly cut eye.
He forfeited his title for a big-money fight with Miguel Cotto for the WBO title the following year, and lost an ultra-close split decision. The Manny Pacquiao fight followed in 2010 at the cavernous Cowboys Stadium in Arlington Texas, and although criticized severely after the fight for his ultra-defensive performance, Clottey proved his toughness in going the distance with a Pacquiao at the absolute peak of his powers, fresh off a career-best 12th round TKO over Miguel Cotto.
Little has been seen of the Ghanaian in the four years since the Pacquiao fight and one can only assume he has been enjoying life and living off the considerable fruits of his labor. Now he is back, and knows that should he defeat Mundine he will be right back in the welterweight/light middleweight mix with the possibility of more big paydays.
Although just 5?8??, Clottey was a massive welterweight and gave the impression of being almost as wide as he was tall.
At his best he moves well and can dart in and out to land his shots, but at his worst he can be somewhat one-dimensional and plodding, and will need to take a few risks to get to Mundine or else run the risk of being schooled. The 5?11?? Mundine loves to box on the outside and keep things at a distance, and will cheerfully do that all-night long if given the opportunity.
This fight depends on what kind of shape Clottey is in and how hungry he still is. If he is 75% of what he was when he faced Judah, Cotto and Pacquiao, he could be too much for Mundine. However if he is simply going through the motions and turning up for the payday, expect a shutout performance from the Australian.
