A wise man once told me that the best time to watch any fighter is when he is hungry.
When he is struggling to pay the bills, when he is fighting for respect, when he is fighting to be noticed and step away from the other “pretenders” and before the bright lights and dollar signs become his lifestyle.
Danny Green was once this very man, and it is what has made him a millionaire.
A man who wore his heart on his sleeve, who took on all comers and left everything in the ring. These traits not only won him a legion of fans, but also took him to an interim Super Middleweight World Title, along with the WBA Light-Heavyweight title.
Talk in the past 24 hours following his loss in social media, and around the water cooler, has seen this legion of fans turn on their man, calling him washed up, a sham and calling for him to retire.
Fans can be fickle and many have lined up to stick in the boot.
But it’s something I won’t do.
I wrote in my preview of the Green-Tarver fight that it is dangerous to question a fighter’s heart, given my view that Tarver no longer had what it took, and that only thing motivating him was the pay cheque.
So I won’t question Danny’s heart now.
Green may not want to see Tarver anytime soon, but he is the man Green must turn to in order to see what is possible against all the odds.
A man who at 42 years old, and with one fight in eighteen months, who had lost two out of his last three, had no chance.
Before last night, Tarver was wearing the same descriptions being attributed this week to Green.
Too Old. Too Slow. Washed up.
Green should also pickup a copy of the film that made Tarver a movie star, Rocky Balboa and listen to the advice given by its star, Sylvester Stallone.
“Life will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. It isn’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward.
The making of a man, is his ability to take a fall, and rise again.
The loss to Antonio Tarver could well be the resurrection of Danny Green.
Danny’s long-time adversary, Anthony Mundine experienced a similar thing when he was knocked out by Contender Australia winner, Garth Wood.
Mundine is adamant it is the loss he had to have.
The wakeup call that was surely needed and what he says will make him a better fighter in the end.
Mundine had begun to coast in fights, struggling to get up for fights against under strength opponents and take shortcuts in training.
It’s been a talking point for some time that Green has been doing the same. Not so much taking shortcuts in training, as Green continues to train like an animal.
However, since his comeback from “retirement” he has fought a variety of opponents.
He has fought under strength fighters in Anthony Van Niekerk and Julio Cesar Dominguez. We cannot forget the much publicised victory over Roy Jones, who no one can deny was a shadow of his former self.
Green followed the Jones win with a fight against Manny Siaca, who had not fought for over a year and jumped three divisions to take on Green, given his previous fight was at Middleweight.
What followed was one of the biggest debacles in Australian boxing, with Green taking on former world champion contender, Paul Briggs, a man who hadn’t fought for three and a half years prior and who retired due to neurological issues, the same issues which saw the NSW boxing commission fail to sanction the fight.
What followed was a fight that went 28 seconds, and caused massive damage to the Green brand.
Fans deserted the Green machine like a sinking ship, not only annoyed at the fight and feeling ripped off, but also annoyed at Green’s handling of the matter.
Fans wanted answers, and Green was non committal. He claimed he had no knowledge of any of the allegations.
If this was true, Green must have been living under a massive rock, the size of which he was looking to hide under at the time given the fallout.
Green had become just like the man all his fans hoped he would beat, Anthony Mundine.
Fighting for Money, and not legacy.
But we must all be aware that fighters can have an off night.
In his previous fight before Tarver, Green had looked the best we had seen him for a long time. Against the previously undefeated BJ Flores, Green shocked the boxing community with his slick skills and execution, winning a wide points decision.
Having stepped in the ring myself (don’t ask!), fighting against the tide when the momentum of a fight is turning against you is the hardest task. It is almost impossible to stay composed when everything is going wrong.
The fight is happening so fast, the punches don’t stop; it’s like playing chess game whilst getting hit repeatedly in the face. You can’t call a timeout and step outside and work your opponent out.
It’s all done on the run, and whilst you struggle to work your opponent out, his lead gets bigger and the problem intensifies. You go back to your corner and your alone with your a million thoughts, you’re tired, you’re hurt, you’re body is screaming at you and you don’t process anything you’re trainer tells you.
Styles make fights, and sometimes it’s just not your night.
But memories are short and the queue of detractors is long.
The man in the street may think his time is up, but only one man has the answer to that very question, and only one man has the power to do anything about it.
Danny Green has had his pride, future earnings and world title aspirations taken away from him.
The good news though...
Danny Green is hungry again.
Write him off at your peril.
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