Green and Mundine agree to $30m super-fight
Anthony Mundine is set to attend Danny Green's fight against Kane Watts in Melbourne next week as Australian boxing's biggest rivals take the final steps towards their long-awaited rematch.
And Perth is one of three cities in the running to host the multi-million dollar showdown either late this year or early next, along with Melbourne and Sydney.
Fairfax today reports the pair met face-to-face at Sydney Airport on Friday, with Mundine giving Green the personal assurance he needed that he was genuine about a second fight.
The meeting was brokered by Mundine's former manager and long-time associate Khoder Nasser.
thewest.com.au understands there was no small talk, with Mundine sticking around for no more than two to three minutes before leaving his father Tony and Nasser to talk with Green and his manager Justin Manolikos.
Negotiations for the fight will begin in earnest about a week and a half after Green's Australian cruiserweight title bout with Watts at Hisense Arena on Wednesday, August 3.
MUNDINE: USA Today name boxer in list of top mediocre athletes
While West Australian Green is 43 and Mundine 40, and neither any longer a world force, it is still the biggest rivalry in Australian boxing a decade after Mundine dominated Green over 12 rounds at super-middleweight in May 2006 in Sydney.
While nothing short of serious injury will derail the fight, there is still plenty to nut out, including:
- the purses and pay-per-view split for each fighter
- the date and venue of the bout, with Perth a genuine possibility as the State Government aggressively chases the big sporting events
- the weight at which they'll meet, considering Mundine's last fight was at light-middleweight - a whopping four divisions below cruiserweight
The weight has long been the biggest stumbling block to a rematch. Come fight night Sydney's Mundine could be giving away up to 10kg.
But his loss last time out to American Charles Hatley in November 2015 - an 11-round hammering which saw any hope of a world title shot at 154lb go out the window - brought a readjustment to his ambitions.
In February this year he went to the UK for emergency hip surgery, saying beforehand "it will be the best $40,000 I've ever spent" as he looked to salvage his career.
He will go straight into the Green bout without a tune-up fight.
Green ended a 33-month break from the ring in August 2015 when he outpointed Argentina's Roberto Bolonti over 10 rounds in Melbourne.
A back injury forced him to withdraw from a clash with German Konni Konrad in December last year.