Mar 22
DISTRESSED GREEN COLLAPSES
Green was so overcome with heat exhaustion that he collapsed in his dressing room after the fight and was taken to hospital. ....MORE [G. Kieza - Fox Sports]

GREEN SET FOR TITLE FIGHT
GREEN DOES IT TOUGH [West Aust]
BAYING FOR BLOOD [West Aust]

The Canadian's corner threw in the towel with just a few seconds of the sixth round remaining after Green floored the former champion with a volley of right-hand punches. Green, who suffered a controversial disqualification loss to Markus Beyer in his first world title shot in August, has earned a rematch with the German next February. Today's result also stengthened the possibility of a mouth-watering all-Australian world title bout down the track between Green and World Boxing Association super-middleweight champion Anthony Mundine.

The 30-year-old Australian started slowly with Lucas, 32, making the early pace and winning the first two rounds. Green looked tentative in those first six minutes, but gradually worked his way into the bout behind his stiff left jab.

Lucas' face showed signs of wear and tear from the fourth round onward and Green dominated the fifth and sixth.
The Australian pummelled the home fighter on the ropes with about a minute of the sixth remaining and then stunned Lucas with a jolting right uppercut 26 seconds from the bell. Green pounced immediately, sending Lucas to the canvas with a cluster of follow-up right-hand punches.

Lucas took an eight count from the Mexican referee, but his corner spared him further punishment by throwing in the towel. Green, who improved his record to 17 wins (all by KOs) and one loss was inspired rather than intimidated by the vociferous pro-Lucas crowd. "By you guys booing us, you helped us out," Green said.

Lucas, who lost the title to Beyer on a controversial points decision in Germany, had his record dropped to 36 wins (13 KOs), six losses and three draws. Green's victory provided triple world champion Jeff Fenech with his first world champion as a trainer and he quickly issued a challenge to all the other title holders in the division.

"He (Green) is going to be the undisputed super-middleweight champion, we want to fight everybody, anywhere," Fenech said.

AAP

[TOP]

DANNY GREEN's devastating right hand today carried him to the World Boxing Council interim super middleweight title and prompted trainer Jeff Fenech to challenge Anthony Mundine and the rest of the division.

Green's sixth round stoppage of Canadian Eric Lucas in Montreal set up a February 28 re-match with German Markus Beyer, who scored a controversial disqualification victory over the Australian in his previous title attempt back in August.

Lucas, whose only two previous stoppage losses occurred in the 12th round, was unable to continue after Green jolted him with a right uppercut 26 seconds from the end of round six and then floored him with a cluster of follow-up right hand blows.

After clearly losing the first two rounds, the 30-year-old Sydney-based West Australian turned the fight around as he started to find his range with stiff left jabs and clubbing right hands.

"I realise I'd lost the first two rounds and I had to dig deep and grit my teeth and start working and believing in myself," Green said. "I hit him with the jab and it was working beautifully and then the right hand started to work and the fight started to turn. "I realise I could see his punches coming and I was hitting him and the fight turned and I was starting to get on top and it gave me the confidence to go out there and go hard.

"After round five Jeff (Fenech) said 'Greeny, Greeny, do me a favour hit him for three minutes' and I went out there and hit him a couple of times and that was it mate, the fight was done, he retired, he didn't want any more."

Green looked tentative through the first two rounds as Lucas beat him to the punch and connected with several scoring blows at close quarters. "We changed our plan at the end of the second round, I told him we'd lost two rounds and we'd have to change and he listened as usual," Fenech said.

"I told him 'Danny, you're too close, you're in his distance and fighting his fight, let's get out to the long jab and bring him on to the right hand'. "The week before the fight I said to Danny 'I want you to throw more right hands than you've ever thrown' and I think you've seen that today. He was unbelievable".

Besides the fight with Beyer, Green also moved closer to potentially the biggest match in Australian boxing history – a showdown with World Boxing Association super middleweight champion Mundine, who watched the fight in Sydney.

"Beyer is going to get fried, we're going to kill him over there (Germany), we're going to beat him like he's never been beaten before," said Fenech. "Put the challenge out to Anthony Mundine – Danny Green wants not to fight him, Danny wants to kill him." "He (Green) is going to be the undisputed super middleweight champion, we want to fight everyone, anywhere."

Fenech, who now has his first world champion as a trainer after winning three titles as a fighter, doubted Mundine would ever get into the ring with Green. Mundine's manager Khoder Nasser said 'The Man' felt Green's victory was good for Australian boxing.

"Anthony feels it's great, it helps boxing in Australia and it's all good news," Nasser said.

"Anthony's advice now to Danny is to train hard and win Beyer's title."

Green improved his record to 17 wins (17KOs) and one loss while 32-year-old Lucas dropped to 36 victories (13KOs), six defeats and three draws.

AAP

Danny Green has the potential to become one of the world's greatest super-middleweights, says Don Majesky, a leading US boxing match-maker and administrator, ahead of Saturday's interim super-middle-weight contest between the Australian and Canadian Eric Lucas.

However, Majesky warned Green would have to learn to control his aggression in the ring after he was disqualified for a headbutt against World Boxing Council super-middleweight title-holder Markus Beyer of Germany in August.

"Danny Green has one of the world's best punches," Majesky said. "He is a brilliant fighter and has a prospect of being one of the best super-middleweights we have seen. But he must control himself. I think it was a lack of maturity which cost him the fight in Germany. Maybe he has learnt from that."

The New York-based Majesky said Green's fight with Lucas Lucas would be a "classic encounter" between two of the world's toughest fighters.

"In contrast to Danny's power, Eric Lucas is a very durable and well-conditioned fighter," Majesky said. "Eric is very tough and has been in the ring with the best, including Roy Jones. It promises to be a hell of a fight."

The WBC has ordered the winner to defend against Beyer by February 28. Beyer's defence of Green's challenge at the Nurburgring ended with the Australian being disqualified by referee Bill Clancy in the fifth round. Green had knocked Beyer down twice in the first two rounds and was ahead on the three judges' cards.
Jacques Theriault, InterBox's media director, expects a crowd of 12,000 to 15,000 in Montreal's major indoor sports stadium, the Bell Centre, on Saturday.

"This bout will be very intense," Theriault said. "Lucas is a very durable and clever boxer, while Green will be trying to put him under immense pressure right from the start."

Theriault is adamant Lucas, 32, has not yet reached his peak, saying: "I believe Eric is another two or three years from reaching his potential."

Lucas turned professional in 1991, a decade before Green. By the time Green had his first amateur in 1993 Lucas was unbeaten in nine professional contests

When Green turned professional in 2001, Lucas had just won the WBC super-middleweight title in his fourth professional fight. After defending the title three times, he controversially lost the crown to Beyer in a disputed points decision last April.

This is the biggest purse ever paid in Canada to an opponent of a Canadian boxer.

And Lucas is set to pocket $1.5 million, making the bout one of the richest super-middleweight title fights.

The fight's promoter, InterBox, considers Green and Lucas are the best two super-middleweight boxers in the world.

"Danny Green is a great fighter," said InterBox media director Jacques Theriault. "This fight will be Eric's biggest challenge since he stepped into the ring against Roy Jones junior in 1996."

In that fight, for Jones' International Boxing Federation's super-middleweight title in Jacksonville, US, the referee stopped the contest in the 12th round after Lucas had sustained a cut eye.

"This event will mark a turning point for the future of international boxing in Quebec," Theriault said.

"The drawing power of the gate and pay-per-view television will readily determine if the Quebec market can support future events of this magnitude, as well as internationally recognised champions such as Eric Lucas."

Lucas is a part-owner of InterBox and is guaranteed to make up to $2 million in his next bout, if he beats Green. Green's purse is a far cry from the $45,000 he received for his unsuccessful tilt at German Markus Beyer's WBC super-middleweight crown in August. After dominating, Green was controversially disqualified in the fifth round for head-butting.

Lucas won the WBC super- middleweight crown with a seventh- round knockout of England's Glenn Catley in Montreal in July 2001 and lost the title to Beyer in a disputed points decision in Leipzig in April.

"Both Eric and Danny have a lot in common," Theriault said. "In their last fight, they both lost to Markus Beyer when they should have won." The WBC wants the winner to defend against Beyer by February 28.

Green, who has been training in Florida for the last week, will arrive in a chilly Montreal tomorrow.

Green is in super form for title shot

December 10, 2003 -

Daily Telegraph, Grantlee Kieza

HALFWAY through Danny Green's 12 rounds on Monday his trainer Jeff Fenech said to an onlooker: "See, you need somebody in your corner that knows."

Fenech had been talking Green through the rounds, saying, "Toes" and other key words to remind the fighter to balance and place his front foot. Green was boxing beautifully.

He'd slip a punch and let rip with quick body shots, or left rip, left hook. He'd slip and turn his opponent and then stick a jab in his face before he got set, the right hand ready.

Whenever he made his opponent miss, a pretty handy combatant in Daniel Rowsell at that, Green always had the punch that was necessary. And he looked magnificent too. His shirt was off and as he moved around the ring the muscles rippled under a skin that was pulled tight across his back.

The difference between Monday's showing and the model shown even six months ago is telling. Danny Green is becoming a hell of a fighter.

Green flew out yesterday for a week's training in Miami before he moves on to Montreal, where he fights Canadian Eric Lucas for the interim-WBC super-middleweight title on December 21.

They fight for the interim belt because WBC champion Markus Beyer is still healing from the hiding Green gave him in August, one that came with a gruesome eye cut that cost him nearly half his face and nearly his belt.

And after the work was done on Monday it emerged that Danny Green, clearly, has already done his healing too. We all know by now that Green was leading, had knocked Beyer down twice, when he got disqualified in a dreadful hometown decision in Germany. While some have argued that the headbutt Green delivered and that eventually caused the stoppage could have been prevented, Green has never strayed from saying it was not intentional.

But he carries the reminder of that one moment with him always, even when he'd finished his 12 rounds on Monday. "You know what?" he said, "I don't want to forget that fight."

Though he has spoken about it often and is questioned about it continually, it still raises enough passion in him that he sounds like he is talking about it for the first time. "That's something you can't forget and I won't, because it has made me a stronger person dealing with it. "I'm not putting it in the back of my mind saying it didn't happen. It was a massive disappointment but I'm able to watch it and live with it.

"I was pretty proud of the way I handled myself. I won't change the way I fight. What happened happened for a reason. There are plenty of people with heavier crosses to bear than me.

"People in war-torn countries, how do they live with that injustice? At the end of the day I go home to a family I love and a family that loves me." The by-product of all that good reason is seen in the gym. It is his fuel. Green is not changing the way he fights, but developing it. He came into professional boxing with that stand-up, straight ahead style popular in the amateurs, and it was always enough as he blew away his opponents early on.

But he realises its limitations and he is trying hard to move to the fluid American style, with neat feet and fast hands banging from anywhere.

He said: "If the level of opponent increases as their individual talents bring something different to each fight, I have to be able to counter that by not just having power, aggression and strength. I've got to be able to counter that with skill and movement, and balance."

The evidence was apparent against Rowsell on Monday.

For a long time Green was saying that he believed he had more improvement in him and he is content now that they were not just empty words. Since the Beyer fight something has clicked. Perhaps, with opportunity already missed in Germany, there is the fear of it happening again. Lucas's record is 36-5-3, and he has fought all the way to the top, including Roy Jones Jr. He is the heavy favourite against Green.

The old Green.

WEST AUSTRALIAN: [link] LUCAS WARNS OF BRAWL IN MONTREAL

Lucas to fight Green Dec. 20 for interim WBC super-middleweight belt

MONTREAL (CP) - Eric Lucas of Montreal will face Danny Green of Australia on Dec. 20 at the Bell Centre for the interim World Boxing Council super-middleweight title, promoter Interbox announced Saturday.

The winner of the bout must face reigning champion Markus Beyer on Feb. 28 in Germany, Interbox general manager Yvon Michel said.

"It's been more than a year since I fought here so it will be good to box at home," said Lucas (36-5-3). "It should be a good fight. "I know that people in Montreal like a brawl, lots of action, and that's how it should be."

Lucas, 32, who lost the title to Beyer (28-1-0) in a controversial split decision in May, was to have fought a rematch with Beyer on Saturday in Riesa, Germany, but the German postponed the bout due to an eye injury.

Interbox asked the WBC for an interim championship fight with Green (17-1), with the winner then taking on Beyer. Interbox received confirmation on Saturday from the WBC that the interim title fight had been approved.

"If it's impossible to fight Beyer, then I'm happy to fight Green," said Lucas. "It makes no difference to me which one I fight first." Green also lost to Beyer on Aug. 16 in Germany on a fifth-round disqualification from an intentional head butt. Green also protested the result and asked for a rematch.

"He's very strong and he's a little dirty," Lucas said of Green. "He likes to find ways to upset his opponent.

"He doesn't have a nice style, but he's very effective. It will be an intense fight."

Green was already in training for a scheduled tuneup Dec. 7 against Sean Sullivan in Perth, Australia, which will be cancelled. Michel said he already had previously made an agreement for Lucas to fight Green after facing Beyer.

"So all we've done is reverse the order of the fights," said Michel. "He's a more dangerous opponent that Beyer.

"It will be a more spectacular fight, but also a more dangerous for Eric. But it's better to take that risk than to sit back with our arms folded waiting for them to name a date for the fight. We could have waited until March or April."

© The Canadian Press, 2003

By Grantlee Kieza
November 24, 2003

IT will be a white Christmas in Montreal as usual this year but Aussie boxer Danny Green hopes to leave Canadian Eric Lucas black and blue when he fights him for the interim WBC super-middleweight title on December 20.

The fight was confirmed yesterday as world champ Markus Beyer, due to fight Lucas in Germany on the weekend, withdrew because of an eye infection.

Lucas lost the WBC title to Beyer by a very dubious decision in the German's home town of Leipzig in April and was eager for revenge.

Instead he faces a much more powerful opponent in the Australian slugger in the 22,000-seat Bell Stadium.

The winner on December 20 will be declared interim world champion and will be Beyer's next challenger in the new year.

"It will be an exciting fight," Green said yesterday. "And I'm very excited to be taking on a great fighter like Eric Lucas in a huge stadium in front of his own fans.

"He's a different type of fighter to Beyer. He's much more physical and rougher and he has a chin of concrete.

"I know I won't have to go looking for him. He'll stand there and slug it out with me all night if he can. But I'm confident in my trainer Jeff Fenech and I believe I'll have the edge in fitness and strength."

Lucas, mindful of Green's bloodbath with Beyer in Germany, says he expects a rough night.

"[Green] is very strong and he's a little dirty," Lucas told Canadian reporters.

"He doesn't have a nice style, but he's very effective. It will be an intense fight."

Green dropped Beyer in the opening two rounds of their fight at the Nurburgring racetrack on August 17 but was disqualified for a head-butt at the end of round five.

Lucas, 32, has been a pro fighter for 12 years and fought for his first world title in 1996.

The same year Lucas was stopped in the final round by Roy Jones in a fight for the IBF super-middleweight title and drew over 10 rounds with Anthony Mundine victim Antwun Echols.

He won the WBC super-middleweight title against Glenn Catley and made three defences against big-name opponents before losing a controversial decision to Beyer in April.

The Daily Telegraph