Anthony Mundine is the only fighter in history to have had all
of his fights broadcast on PPV. The simple answer for that is Anthony Mundine equals
money. Mundine reportedly made $700,000 from his boxing debut against Gerard
Zohs way back in 2000. It was similar money to what he would have made only a
year earlier for a full season with the St George/Illawarra Dragons.
Daniel Geale on the other hand would have been lucky to make
a few thousand dollars from his debut fight, despite being a former Olympian
and a Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
In fact it would have
only been in his last few fights that Geale would have even ticked past the
$700,000 payday Mundine earned on his debut, which is ultimately the very
reason we have arrived at Geale v Mundine 2.
Daniel Geale is one of the greatest Australian fighters of all time. He
currently holds the IBF Middleweight Title and was disgracefully stripped of
the WBA Middleweight Title only weeks after winning it. He has gone to Germany
twice and has come away with two world titles against top notch fighters in
Sebastian Sylvester and Felix Sturm.
Yet despite all of this Geale can still walk down the street
and the large majority will have no idea who he is. Geale doesn’t yet have the
profile to match his in-ring ability, which was shown in reports that only 3000
pay per view sales were recorded for his recent Middleweight unification fight
with Sturm. But that’s all set to change with this fight.
See Anthony “The Man” Mundine hasn’t fought his way to an
IBF Middleweight World Title shot with Daniel Geale, he has been given the
opportunity for three reasons.
A)
As mentioned earlier, Anthony Mundine equals
money. He is a compelling figure that draws publicity wherever he walks, and
whether to see him win or knocked out, we all pay to see him fight.
B)
Mundine is seen as being on the downward spiral as of late.
Knocked out by Garth Wood and most recently in action against journeyman, Bronco
“Superman” McKart. The fact is Mundine is very beatable these days, especially
to a fighter on the level that Geale has operated at recently.
C) Geale wants payback
In boxing fights are made with a variety of factors in mind.
The ultimate formula that prevails is Risk vs. Reward. It’s the very reason
fighters such as Roy Jones and Shane Mosley continue to get fights. They can
sell tickets, yet they are also very beatable.
Geale could have made a defence against a tougher but
largely unknown fighter and made half of what he will make against Mundine.
Yet by taking the Mundine fight he will make a good payday
and “scratch the itch” that is his loss to Mundine in their first fight back in
2009, all the while increasing his ever-growing profile given the public
interest and press coverage the fight will achieve.
Geale was unlucky to lose his IBO Middleweight Title against
Mundine back in 2009 by way of split decision. There is an unwritten rule in
boxing that in a close fight the decision tends to go the way of the champion
given the challenger must win decisively to wrestle the title away, however
Mundine got the result.
Geale’s camp filed a protest and the IBO had three
independent judges re-score the fight, all of whom scored it in favour of Geale.
Therefore the IBO commanded an immediate rematch between the pair. Mundine
responded by vacating the title.
So if Mundine wasn’t interested in the rematch in 2009, then
why now?
The reason- He has no other options.
His recent excursion to the United States was a disaster. He
sold an embarrassingly low number of tickets and raised little interest. All the challenges to Floyd Mayweather, Manny
Pacquiao and others went nowhere, as they were always going too. The journey even
caused the end of his long term association with Khoder Nasser.
Mundine even turned down the one legitimate chance he had at
taking on the world, his interim WBA title shot against Austin Trout, the very
man who recently toppled Miguel Cotto. It could have been Mundine, if only he
took the chance.
The fight with Geale is Mundine’s very last shot at
achieving his lofty ambitions. An IBF Middleweight Title is sure to open doors
and will be the first reputable world title in his collection.
For this very reason alone, no one should discount Anthony
Mundine. He is hungry, he is desperate and he will give everything that he has
in this fight. This Mundine is dangerous, he simply has nothing to lose. It is
his Rocky moment, and a shot he probably doesn’t deserve.
Some of Mundine’s best performances have been on the biggest
occasions, his fights with Danny Green and Antwun Echols are case in point. He has
spoken previously about struggling to get up for fights against opposition not
on his level, which will not be a concern this time around.
For Mundine it is his last chance to leave a legacy that
will be respected. For now there lies an asterix next to his name with the line
“How good could he have been”. For all his talent, freakish ability and three
world titles he has never truly fulfilled his potential. However he now rides
the road to redemption, to leave the talk and bravado at the door and show his
true character and show the world just how good a fighter he is.
A win for Mundine and new life surges into a career that
where for now the lights are flickering.
A win for Geale and the country will have a hero whose
standing and profile will match the size of his in-ring feats.
Strap yourselves in ladies and gentleman it’s going to be a
blast!
Follow Adam on Twitter at @adamsantarossa
