by Paul Upham

ring…ring…

Grandma: Hello?

Paul Upham: Hi Grandma, it’s your favourite grandson Paul.

Grandma: Where have you been sonny? I haven’t seen much of you before or after Christmas? You haven’t been writing much on the web either. That Stuart Duncan and his webmaster Annie do a great job at www.AussieBox.com.au, you should be helping them out more.

Paul Upham: I’ve been busy with a very special boxing project.

Grandma: Which is?

Paul Upham: Well, I can’t say. It’s top secret right now. But, on March 4, 2005 the Australian boxing community will be very surprised.

Grandma: Are you giving up the writing and becoming a promoter? Did you make Mundine vs. Green?

Paul Upham: No Grandma. I’ll leave that to someone else like Glenn Wheatley. Just wait till March 4.

Grandma: OK. What is happening with that Anthony Mundine anyway. Isn’t he going to fight that nice Puerto Rican boy Manny Siaca again?

Paul Upham: No, he’s not. Siaca had a hand injury and had to pull out of the fight. They wanted to put the fight back six to eight weeks, but Mundine decided to fight on with a new opponent, a 26 year-old from Panama, Darmel Castillo.

Grandma: Why wouldn’t they just put the fight back?

Paul Upham: Once you are given a TV date, boxers are reluctant to change. They train to peak for a certain week and they only get paid when they fight, so they always try to go ahead with a new opponent.

Grandma: Agnes down the Rowing Club, who is a Danny Green fan, says that Siaca was never going to come out and fight.

Paul Upham: There was that rumour going around, but surely Team Mundine would have had a better opponent lined up if that was the case. Siaca never came out in the press denying the fight had been made and he would have been paid training expenses.
Now the NSW Boxing Authority has rejected Castillo as an opponent and they have moved the fight to the Gold Coast.

Grandma: Why did they do that?

Paul Upham: Well, the NSW Boxing Authority ruled that Castillo was not a good enough opponent to fight Mundine, so they would not sanction it. His record is 9 wins, 7 losses, 1 draw with 6 KO’s. He has lost five of his last six fights, the other was a draw. If you look at his record closely, he is one of these boxers that always fights on the road away from home. He may not be as bad as it looks, but we’ll have to wait till Wednesday night. Team Mundine were not happy with the decision and have threatened never to fight in NSW again. They have been given the approval to fight in Queensland instead, so the card will go ahead this Wednesday night at the Gold Coast Convention Centre.

Grandma: Anthony should just knock him out if he has that sort of record.

Paul Upham: On paper, if you have trained for one opponent, it can be off-putting to then have to face someone else you know nothing about. While everyone expects Mundine to win, he still has to do it and his career is on the line. We have to remember it is a fight and either man can win. There is even more pressure on Mundine to win now. If Anthony loses, there will be no world title fight with WBA champion Mikkel Kessler and no fight with Danny Green. As easy as it is for people to say Mundine will just cruise in, he still has to do it. When you are watching the TV coverage on Main Event at home, or if you are at the Rowing Club watching on Fox Sports, I’ll bet you’ll still see Mundine looking nervous before the fight. His whole boxing career is at stake, regardless of who he is facing.

Grandma: But who decides whether the fight should still go ahead on television?

Paul Upham: The TV issue is very interesting. As it is on pay-per-view, the Mundine's are taking the risk. The TV networks don't lose as such. If the fight does not sell as well, they just take a smaller return along with the promoter who pays for the production costs. But you don’t want to see the market saturated with poor fights. Mundine is a substantial TV brand name, but ultimately, the fans will decide if they are prepared to accept what is on offer.

Grandma: Will Mundine fight Green next? All the ladies down the Rowing Club are looking forward to that one.

Paul Upham: It depends a lot of whether Danny can win the WBC world title from Markus Beyer in Germany on March 12. I was talking to Danny during the week and he would love a fight with Mundine, of course. But he does have the option of going to the USA and fighting on the HBO TV network, building his career over there. Mundine also has options. He is the No.1 contender for WBA champion Mikkel Kessler and could fight him instead of Green. You have to ask, does Mundine want to take 25% of a purse bid and maybe fight Kessler in Denmark? If Team Mundine were to win the purse bid, they could hold the fight in Australia. But Anthony would be taking a small payday and my contacts in Europe have told me that Kessler is good, very good. If he could do a deal to fight Green instead, Mundine could be guaranteed a huge payday, fight in his home country, with a rematch clause in the contract. From a business point of view, Mundine vs. Green makes more sense to Mundine. Green does have the chance to go to the USA. It will all come down to how much Team Mundine are prepared to give up in negotiations. They want a 75-25 split their way. Green is prepared to do 50-50. But before talks for any of that can happen, Mundine must beat Castillo and Green has to beat Beyer.

Grandma: It still seems that Mundine vs. Green is closer than ever.

Paul Upham: Yes, it could happen in June or July this year, but you know boxing, anything is possible.

Grandma: OK, I’ll be watching you this Wednesday night Paul. Make sure to say hello to Barry Michael for me. He’s a spunk!

Paul Upham: Ok, yes Gran.

End.