Mundine, Alvarez hunting the big fish

Anthony Mundine ( 42-4-0) and Rigoberto Alvarez (27-3-0) meet in Newcastle on Wednesday night, both looking to secure themselves a world title shot.

The man in their sights is American, Austin Trout, who defeated Alvarez for the interim WBA Junior Middleweight Title back in February of this year.

As it happens, Rigoberto Alvarez had agreed to travel to Australia to defend his title against Mundine at the same time; however a knockout loss for Mundine at the hands of fellow Australian and Contender Australia winner, Garth Wood dashed those plans. The fight with Trout was arranged in its place and the rest as they say is history.

Mundine had been in talks with the Trout camp to have the American defend his title in Australia; however it’s reported that talks broke down when both camps could not agree on a contract, with a dispute set to have been over the amount of options that the Trout camp would hold over Mundine for future fights.

Mundine saw it as Trout backing out of a fight, and will now finally meet Alvarez, with the winner becoming the number one contender and mandatory challenger for Trout’s title.

This is no easy assignment for Mundine, and I expect him to struggle given I have been unimpressed with his last few performances. Recently he has suffered a knockout loss to Garth Wood, followed by a scratchy and by no means convincing display in the rematch, despite winning. His last fight was against Xavier Toliver ( 23-6-0), and although more a keep busy fight, he still needed seven rounds to get past a clearly outmatched opponent.

Mundine has always promised the world, and for the last two years he has been spruiking a move to America and a desire to take on the best. The move to fight Alvarez is a giant leap in the right direction, and Mundine has highlighted a clear path he wishes to follow.

A win over Alvarez will see him fight Trout for the interim title, which will make him the first man to win three world titles in descending weight divisions. From there he wants to fight the current WBA Junior Middleweight Super Champion, Miguel Cotto.

Mundine said recently in an interview that he has offered Cotto $2 Million to fight in Australia, which Cotto reportedly declined. He has also hinted at a move to lure Shane Mosley, and even the brother of his opponent on Wednesday night, WBC Junior Middleweight Champion, Saul Alvarez.

But even the best laid plans in boxing often come unstuck.

Miguel Cotto fights Antonio Margarito on December 12^th at Madison Square Garden, and is no certainty to walk away with the belt.

But the biggest thing that will throw Mundine’s plans into chaos, is standing in the opposite corner come Wednesday night.

Rigoberto Alvarez is no walkover. He is a crafty southpaw, who is going to be tough to put away. Alvarez has heavy hands and the knockout power to put Mundine away.

All but one of his thirty fights have taken place in Mexico, with his only overseas fight taking place in South Africa, which ended in defeat to William Gare in their WBF Super Middleweight Title fight.

Mundine has shown signs that he no longer has the ability to get outside like he used to, and his recent fights have seen him tagged on numerous occasions, and of course knocked out by Garth Wood.

The jury is still out on whether or not Mundine is comfortable with the Junior Middleweight division. Despite “campaigning” in the division for the last eighteen months, he fought in the Middleweight division in his fights with Wood, and even when fighting at Junior Middleweight, we have seen him decide to fight at catchweight rather than the true mark.

Mundine comes in with a disrupted preparation which saw the fight postponed for a number of weeks, after Mundine suffered a deep cut over his right eye in sparring. The cut is still clearly visible, which raises questions over the effect it has had on Mundines preparation, as well as what effect it may have on Mundine in the fight itself.

Mundine has said the Garth Wood defeat was a blessing in disguise. He says it made him reassess his training and stop taking shortcuts, and has made him a better fighter.
Others feel Mundine’s boxing ability is in a state of decline and that there are signs that father time is having an effect.

Both men are fighting for a shot at redemption, and despite being the former Champion, Alvarez will go into the fight as the underdog, but for Mundine, all the pressure is on his shoulders. There is no room for empty promises or big fights that fail to materialise.

It’s either career resurrection or the end of an era.

Why the Wallabies will win it all in 2015

This is a message for every Australian crying into their Weetbix this morning. Make sure you keep a record of every single New-Zealander who has a crack at you in the next few weeks.

What’s the Reason?

The Wallabies will win the World Cup in 2015.

Now I know we have not even begun a post mortem of our 2011 campaign, but for those who want to stick the boot in I offer a glimmer of hope.

There is no denying that the All Blacks were faster, stronger, tougher and an all round better Rugby side. Even without the likes of Daniel Carter, they were clearly too good for us.

Sure we may have taken out the Tri-Nations title, but if anyone can remember back to the first Bledisloe earlier this year in New Zealand, it made pretty similar viewing to the World Cup semi final.

The Wallabies had key players not performing on the big stage, and an overall squad of players lacking composure at key times in the match. Whether it was drop balls or the wrong option, the All Blacks were a much slicker unit, with much more experience, who remained calm and composed under a mountain of expectation in New Zealand.

But as promising as the 2011 World Cup campaign may have looked for the Wallabies, our chances in 2015 look even better.

Quade Cooper, Kurtley Beale, James O’Connor, David Pocock, Will Genia, Rob Horne, Pat McCabe, Rob Simmons, Anthony Faingaa, Scott Higginbotham, Saia Faingaa and Sekope Kepu are all currently either 25 years of age or under, meaning the Wallabies already have an established core of players that will be available for the next World Cup, with some such as James O’Connor still young enough to go beyond that.

Another four years of Super 15 and Test Rugby, will ensure each player is not just more experienced, but will carry the lesson of the 2011 campaign with them.

Someone who has taken a battering for his form all tournament is Quade Cooper. Now there is no denying that Quade had a disappointing campaign, and after such a stellar Super 15 campaign, expectations were higher.

But I feel the Wallabies place too much pressure on Quade Cooper, and it is he who we look to all the time to produce that bit of magic to get us out of trouble. When he tries it and it fails, we chastise him, yet it seems he is the only one providing any real creativity or attacking intent.

We need to remember to, that he has only played 33 tests and has only been a Wallaby for three years, of which much time was spent coming off the bench or at Inside Centre, as deputy for Matt Giteau.

After a disappointing first half in the World Cup Semi Final, I felt Quade Cooper really came into it in the second half, and it showed his character, to fight back the way he did.

The Wallabies coaching staff should not make any knee jerk reactions in regards to who wears the Number 10 for the Wallabies. Quade Cooper is still our best option, and we should continue the faith in him on the road to 2015.

But Quade needs some support, and it must come in the shape of James O’Connor. I personally feel O’Connor is wasted on the wing, as he doesn’t see enough ball, and when he does he has little room to move. I would move him to Inside Centre, and bring him closer to the action. He is a great ball runner, who can run a good line and can be really damaging with the ball in hand. He can also provide some support to Cooper in the playmaking duties, given O’Connor has played at Fly Half for the Force for the last few seasons, and may even be handed the Number 10 for the Rebels next season.

The reason O’Connor did not play Inside Centre in the World Cup, was the fear of a mismatch, when coming up against the likes of giant centres Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith. Some protection would have to be given to O’Connor and I feel the right man for the job would have to be, Pat McCabe.

Although playing at Inside Centre, I think McCabe would be better suited in the number 13. He is still quite inexperienced at Test level, and it should be remembered that he played a lot of the season at Fullback for the Brumbies in Super 15, so he is still learning how to be a Centre. He has shown so much already, imagine what he could be capable of in four years time.

Through in Will Genia, David Pocock and Kurtley Beale, plus any other finds over the next four years and the Wallabies looked incredibly well placed.

South Africa, England, France and others all relied on much older and more experienced players in the World Cup this year than the Wallabies, and they all must go through a period of renew.

The gap between the Wallabies and the All Blacks might favour the All Blacks now, but I’m confident with time, that will change. Many of the All Black players are set to call time on their careers in the near future, and a World Cup win may even push some into retirement sooner than they expected.

In saying that, for those that continue on and who are pushing into the latter stages of their careers, it is hard to put a broom through a World Cup winning side.

In 1995, the country was stunned when the Wallabies crashed out of the World Cup with an underwhelming performance against England in the Quarter Finals.

Who would have thought amid the doom and gloom surrounding our exit, that four years later we would lift the trophy in 1999.

Five minutes of action, was all that stopped the Wallabies from exiting last week at the exact same stage they did in 1995.

Who’s to say we can’t win it all in 2015, and when we do, remember those who wrote them off in 2011.