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Paul Upham is a senior boxing writer for SecondsOut.com and writes regular weekly articles for AussieBox.com.au. In 2003 he was rated No.11 amongst the worlds best boxing writers. He has appeared on air as a boxing analyst for Main Event Pay-Per-View, Sky Channel, Fox Sports, Sky News Australia, SBS television, Radio 2UE Sydney, Radio SEN Melbourne and writes monthly for The Fist magazine.
“THE MAKING OF MUNDINE v GREEN”

by Paul Upham


What could be one of the biggest match-ups ever in the history of Australian boxing is a super middleweight clash between WBA world champion Anthony Mundine and WBC Interim world champion Danny Green. While every fan wants to see the two facing each other in the ring as soon as possible, it might not be that easy. AussieBox.com has just received an audio tape of what sounded like a recent telephone conversation between Mundine’s manager Khoder Nasser and Green’s manager/trainer Jeff Fenech. While we are unable to confirm it's authenticity 100%, as a service to the Australian boxing community and boxing fans in general, a transcript of that discussion follows;

...ring…ring…

Jeff Fenech : Yeah hello?
Khoder Nasser : Jeff, what’s going on?
Jeff Fenech : ‘Abbs’. It’s been a long time.
Khoder Nasser : So, what did you think about last night’s fight?
Jeff Fenech : There was a fight?
Khoder Nasser : You know. My main man “Choc” destroying Mr Nishizawa!
Jeff Fenech : The only destruction Anthony was causing was in the second round to the lining of the back of his trunks when he hit the canvas.
Khoder Nasser : Just minor details and some more experience. It’s all part of the show!
Jeff Fenech : Anthony likes to say I fought Thai taxi drivers, well I think this guy he fought on Monday night was driving them to the taxi’s at the start of their shifts!
Khoder Nasser : Jeff, we’re not going to get into that argument again are we?
Jeff Fenech : Well you’re the ones who started it.
Khoder Nasser : Why, because Anthony called Danny Green a ‘bum’?
Jeff Fenech : Yes, and challenging me to a fight. If I wasn’t being inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame at the time, I would have taken the fight and given him a real beating that would have made his loss to Ottke look like a Sunday picnic.
Khoder Nasser : Jeff, you are closer to 40 years of age than 30 you know?
Jeff Fenech : There’s nothing wrong with my condition. Listen, I’m in the gym every day training with my boys. We don’t back down from any challenge!
Khoder Nasser : Well, you guys did plenty of shit stirring yourselves. What about the time you, Nader Hamdan and Ian McLeod fronted Anthony out of the crowd at Fox Sports Central when he was being interviewed live. Where did you get that idea from?
Jeff Fenech : Fox Sports.
Khoder Nasser : What do you mean Fox Sports?
Jeff Fenech : They put us up to it. I think they said it was ‘all part of the show’.
Khoder Nasser : Look, I didn’t ring you to argue. I think it’s time we talked about making this fight with Anthony and Danny happen.
Jeff Fenech : About time too. We’ve always been ready to make it happen.
Khoder Nasser : OK, but before we sit down to work out some solid details, I thought we’d run through the main points.
Jeff Fenech : Shoot.
Khoder Nasser : OK, first of all we need to decide on the venue…
Jeff Fenech : Perth!
Khoder Nasser : What do you mean Perth?
Jeff Fenech : We’ll have the fight in Perth. Danny always gets a great crowd there. I think it would be the perfect venue.
Khoder Nasser : We ain’t having it in Perth.
Jeff Fenech : If it’s not Perth, then either Sydney or Melbourne. Whatever stadium can seat the most. I know 40,000 people myself who will turn up.
Khoder Nasser : Who?
Jeff Fenech : Danny’s Western Australian fan club.
Khoder Nasser : What about television coverage, I think Fox Footy is the way to go with Clinton Grybas, Adam Watt and Barry Michael as commentators.
Jeff Fenech : No way. Danny Green is a Sky Channel fighter. We’ll be doing it on Sky Channel with my man Matt Brooks and Grantlee Kieza as the commentators.
Khoder Nasser : I don’t see it that way.
Jeff Fenech : Listen, we don’t want to be accused of ducking this fight. It’s going to be on Main Event television anyway, why don’t we share the production costs between Sky Channel and Fox Footy and show it on all three? I’ll agree to Adam Watt if you agree on Brooks.
Khoder Nasser : Done.
Jeff Fenech : With the fight officials, we’ll have Ray Wheatley as the referee.
Khoder Nasser : Jeff, if you want to be like that, we can always get Bill Clancy, the American referee who did such a great job in the Green-Beyer fight.
Jeff Fenech : We won’t have him, but we’ll take Wayne Kelly, the American referee who did such an expert job in the Mundine-Ottke fight.
Khoder Nasser : We’ll work it out later then….For the judges, we’ll have Derek Milham as the first judge and then…
Jeff Fenech : Are you serious? In that case, we want Des Bloyd.
Khoder Nasser : What do you want Des Bloyd for?
Jeff Fenech : Anyone who scored the fight for Sam Soliman over Anthony Mundine is good enough for me.
Khoder Nasser : OK, lets get three overseas judges then…We need a deal with a leading newspaper to showcase the fight, I think the Sun Herald in Sydney is the way to go.
Jeff Fenech : What’s wrong with the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph in Sydney? If there is a better boxing writer around than Grantlee Kieza, then I have never fought a fight in my life.
Khoder Nasser : What’s wrong with Danny Weidler?
Jeff Fenech : We could get Rebecca Wilson then?
Khoder Nasser : Don’t get me started. OK, we’ll just hold open media conferences then. I think when we first announce the fight it should be at Anthony’s Boxa Café in Hurstville?
Jeff Fenech : Well, there’s nothing wrong with the Hurstville Ritz Hotel across the road. Danny’s sponsor Steve Bowden has a great venue. You can come across the road.
Khoder Nasser : Why should we? We have the better place.
Jeff Fenech : Come on, you know how much those journos like a beer?
Khoder Nasser : We’ve got the food and anyway, Anthony won’t be drinking, I can assure you that. Look, I’ve got a better idea. They are right across the road from each other. Let’s contact Hurstville Council, get the road closed for a couple of hours and do it in the middle between both venues.
Jeff Fenech : Done.
Khoder Nasser : OK, with the money split, Anthony will take 75% and …
Jeff Fenech : You think I was born yesterday? They both bring a title to the ring and it should be a 50/50 split.
Khoder Nasser : Jeff, the only reason people know Green is because of Anthony Mundine. He is the star, he is the name and he is the ‘Man’!
Jeff Fenech : So I guess it was someone else who beat up Markus Beyer and stopped Eric Lucas last year? There was nothing wrong with Danny’s sales for those fights.
Khoder Nasser : Look, I just want to maximise the return for Anthony. If you can find a way of bringing more money to the table, which will give Anthony his biggest pay day, we’ll agree to 50/50.
Jeff Fenech : We put on a rumble.
Khoder Nasser : What do you mean a rumble?
Jeff Fenech : We put a rumble on at the press conference. We have me, Danny and Team Fenech on one side of the podium and you, Anthony, Tony Mundine and the rest of your crew on the other side. We’ll need someone neutral in the middle….I know! We’ll put Glenn Wheatley in there. He told me he wants to be involved in the promotion. He always has a smile on his face no matter what happens and he can put a positive spin on anything. Look at what he has done for John Farnham all these years. We start off with a verbal between Danny and Anthony and then we get into it. I think Glenn knows a good choreographer that’s worked on his concerts as well. It worked for Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. The media will lap it up and the pay-per-view sales will go through the roof.
Khoder Nasser : If the sales rocket, we deserve a better cut from Main Event. We should have a meeting with their boss David Spencer to squeeze some more cash out of him.
Jeff Fenech : I hear he is a bit of a tough guy in negotiations?
Khoder Nasser : Is that a problem?
Jeff Fenech : No, we’ll just lean on him a little.
Khoder Nasser : One other thing, Anthony will be coming out into the arena second and introduced last.
Jeff Fenech : How do you figure that?
Khoder Nasser : As I said before, Anthony Mundine is the star of the show.
Jeff Fenech : You know what, I’m not going to bother arguing with you. You can have it. Anthony may be coming in second and introduced last, but he’ll be the one carried out of the ring on a stretcher first.
Khoder Nasser : Yeah sure…OK, that just about covers it then, what month do we do it?
Jeff Fenech : Danny’s fighting Sean Sullivan March 21 in Perth, then we have a rematch with Marcus Beyer in May and then we have a rematch with Eric Lucas in November.
Khoder Nasser : Anthony’s fighting Manny Siaca in April, then we have a rematch with Sven Ottke in June and then we’d have an IBF mandatory defence in October probably with Mads Larsen or Charles Brewer. So early 2005 looks good. I got my diary here, I’d say…Monday 7th March 2005.
Jeff Fenech : Fine. OK, now this weekend, I’ll get Danny to challenge Anthony again in the Sunday Telegraph and then the following weekend you get Anthony to return serve in the Sun Herald.
Khoder Nasser : No problem. You want another side bet too Jeff? We enjoyed the money we got out of you for the Ian McLeod fight.
Jeff Fenech : Listen, the only one who is taking a gamble in this fight is Anthony because he is the one who will be getting into the ring with the “Green Machine”.
Khoder Nasser : We’ll see. It’s nice doing business with you Jeff.
Jeff Fenech : You’ll like it even more when Danny has knocked Anthony clear out of the ring…
Khoder Nasser : He’s got to be able to hit him first...
click…click… (both phones disconnect)
Jeff Fenech : Like taking candy from a baby…
Khoder Nasser : As easy as shooting fish in a barrel…

End.

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