EastsideBoxing.com
Australian Boxing News
31.03.05 – By Anton Williams: Anthony Mundine is currently sparing world
light heavyweight contender Paul Briggs on the Gold Coast and has raised a
few eyebrows by requesting the services of Manny Siaca ahead of his world
title fight with Mikkel Kessler in Sydney on May 11th. Reports suggest that
Mundine is training harder than ever and the last training session with
Briggs was as brutal a sparring session as any in recent times. Briggs is
reported to have said that Mundine is looking fitter and stronger than ever
and is now “prepared to get his hands dirty” in order to prepare for what he
(Mundine) says is the biggest fight of his life. Stay tuned for further
developments.
In other boxing news Kostya Tszyu is training upwards of six hours a day at
the Institute of Sport in Canberra (Australia’s number 1 elite sports
training academy) in preparation for his June 4 World Title Fight with Ricky
Hatton in Manchester, England. The fight which is scheduled for 2am to
satisfy American TV commitments was sold out in a British Sporting Record
time of 2 hours. With 22000 Englishmen booing an Aussie it promises to be a
great fight.
My early prediction is that with Hatton being a fighter that gets hit a lot
and Tszyu being the hardest hitting junior welterweight I have seen, Kostya
should stop Hatton in no more than 5 rounds. Still on Kostya. With only one
year left in the fight game he is already looking to promote fights and has
taken up managing an incredibly gifted and powerful fighter by the name of
Anton Solopov who interestingly enough beat Miguel Cotto(World Champ) as an
amateur. For the record Kostya has stated he has 3 fights left in him. The
Hatton fight, one in Russia, (his homeland) and one here in Sydney so
whatever you do try not to miss his last three fights because it will be a
while until we see another tough, gifted and incredibly humble champion like
him.
Also it has been Thirty Years since the Flyweight Division has been unified
(to hold two or more Titles in the One Division). Vic Darchinyan recently
won the IBF Flyweight World Title and has a remarkable record of 22 Fights
for 22 Wins (17 KO’s).
One of the most devastating punchers ever seen in the lower weight classes
in many years (he benchpresses close to 250lb), Vic Darchinyan impressed
Jeff Fenech at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games whilst representing Armenia,
building up an impressive amateur record of 152 wins from 170 bouts. The
former world champion saw something special in the big punching southpaw and
he has been proven correct.
Darchinyan left a trail of destruction when winning the IBF flyweight world
title from long standing and previously undefeated Irene Pacheco. The
“Raging Bull” is now looking towards world domination in the flyweight
division. I’ll keep you updated on his progress over the coming months.
Other World Class Boxers that will feature in future news include Nedal
‘Skinny’ Hussein, Lovemore NDOU as well as the captain of Australia’s 2004
Olympic Boxing Team to Athens, Jamie PITTMAN. If you want me to cover a
fighter here in Australia just let me know and I’ll hunt him down for you.
Until next week this Eastside Boxing’s roving reporter in Sydney, Australia.
Anton Williams