DANNY Green has brushed off threats of an appeal after his win over Anthony Mundine last week and scotched any talk of a third, deciding fight.
Green won a controversial 10-round decision to retain his Australian cruiserweight title before almost 28,000 people at Adelaide Oval on February 3 but Mundine lodged a preliminary protest with the Australian National Boxing Federation on Wednesday calling for the result to be changed to a “no decision’’.
Mundine’s legal team cites irregularities in the scoring and the fact that Hawaiian judge Hubert Minn gave the fight to Green by a whopping 98-90, winning nine rounds to one.
Californian judge Steve Morrow scored for Green 96-94, while Australian Tom Ferrauto had a 94-94 draw.
Danny Green insists he is now ‘definitely retired’.Source:News Corp Australia
Even though Green said he was now “definitely retired’’, he came out swinging this week.
“Not one of the three judges had him winning the fight, don’t forget that,’’ said Green.
“Why would I fight Mundine again? I won. There’s nothing left to prove no matter how much he complains.
“Mundine could only hurt me with a cheap, blatant foul that was punishable by disqualification.”
While the scoring was controversial, Green received plenty of support from good judges during the week.
Australia’s highest rated fighter Jeff Horn, who had predicted a Green victory, said: “It was a close fight. Green dominated the first half even though he’d taken that heavy shot from the foul punch in round one.
“Mundine came home strong but there were two or three close rounds that could have gone either way.’’
Olympic great Athol McQueen, the 75-year-old who famously decked the great Smokin’ Joe Frazier at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, was more certain.
“Mundine has to be kidding,’’ he said.
“Danny Green won the fight. He dominated it. He swept the first five rounds for starters.’’
Green said he fought almost all the fight badly concussed after the first-round foul and said Mundine’s “king hit’’ on him from behind was the result of “panic’’.
“I hurt him in the first round and I could smell his fear,’’ Green said.
Danny Green said he could ‘smell Mundine’s fear’Source:AAP
“We were in a clinch and the referee told Mundine three times to let me go. The ref actually had my right arm pinned and was talking to us, breaking us apart when Mundine slammed home a big left hook with the full intention of hurting me as my back was turned.
“I was a different fighter after the foul. I was sharp and crisp and super responsive in the first minute. After the foul I slowed right up. But I still won.’’
Green said the only reason the fight did not end with Mundine losing in the first round was “I had the guts to keep going after he hit me with a cheap shot from behind while the referee had my arm pinned’’.
“I could have stopped fighting then and won in the first round but I didn’t want to cheat the fans after they’d been waiting for the rematch for 11 years,’’ Green said.
“For 29 minutes, Mundine failed to take out a sitting duck who had been badly affected by such poor sportsmanship.’’
The fight was a rematch of their 2006 fight which Mundine won by 12-round decision at the Sydney Football Stadium.
