The Implications Of Mundine’s Comprehensive Beat Down of Danny Green PR Machine Where To Now?

By Bradley Yeh

Before I cast the spotlight on the subject of this fight game investigation, firstly, let me congratulate Anthony Mundine with his inspiring win over an outmatched Danny Green last Wednesday night at the Australian stadium here in Sydney, Australia. After years of being called out by Green, Mundine stepped up to the plate and showed the difference between the utterings of each combatant’s mouths, in that Anthony did what he predicted, he didn’t run, he dominated, and he systematically broke the machine that Green had self labelled himself to be.

Comprehensively, for almost 95% of the fight, Mundine taught Green how to, stick, move, jab with authority, throw combinations after creating real openings, set traps, and, throw punches that are only observed by their painful impact. Along with Tony Mundine Senior, Roy Jones Senior was also in Mundine’s corner last Wednesday night. After the fight Roy Jones Senior stated that Mundine always had true world-class status, but now he could look forward to bigger and better things again, such as the right his beat down on Green earned him to fight Kessler for his world title - again.

With only 6 years experience in the professional fight game Mundine is still learning and improving, unlike Green, this view was shared by Tony Mundine Senior, Roy Jones Senior, Kostya Tszyu, Johnny Lewis, Barry Michael, and many others that have donned gloves and know what it takes to compete at the elite level in the square ring.

Aside from beating the tripe out of Danny Green for most of the fight, it should not be lost that the big story here is how (and for how long) most of the Australian public, and Green, both wrongly and very publicly (beyond that of a sport) made Mundine out to be the "bad guy" by promoting untruths about him – untruths that were completely out of the nature of the sport like, Mundine was happy about 9/11 disaster, other untruths propagated were that Mundine lacked talent, he lacked a chin, and that he was basically a boxing fraud that got where he is due to celebrity. Most of these claims have been made or alluded to by Jeff Fenech (former Green trainer) and Green throughout Green’s career, and I will address them later in this article with Mundine’s real achievements.

For now, let’s start with Mundine’s fight with Sven Oktte, for this Mundine didn’t even have proper sparring prior to fighting Oktte, sure he got KO’d but please remember that Mundine still came back from it, which surely is the ultimate sign of a champion. We all know to turn around a loss and continue, and then be a world champion is the sign of boxing greatness. Did Green do this with Beyer? Did he come close? No on both counts, and Green wasn’t KO’d there. Meaning that Mundine had bigger demons to exorcise in becoming who he is now after the Ottke loss than did Green with the Beyer disqualification/heat butt.

Let’s not forget that Mundine barely had 2 amatuer fights prio to being a professional puncher, so there is no crawling before he walked, so to speak. When we look at things in the correct light, we see that unlike the ridicule that has been unfairly propagated throughout some parts of Australia for so long, Mundine, a proud aboriginal, is a true and brilliant natural athlete, there is no escaping that fact. As a society we never gave Ali a hard time as he preached and promoted, not even before he proved himself – yet the Australian public constantly did to Mundine. Why? Aside from the jealousy that a lot of men have because they cant fight as good as they would like, I believe it was because for the most part they simply saw others do it, and just jumped on the bandwagon – you know how it goes. (I’m sure Joe Calzaghe would agree after his Lacy bout). No point in fans thinking for themselves if everyone else has done it for you, particularly if the rumour sound good and serves your patriotic ego, is there?

All the ridiculing fans that have been engaged in the negative personal characterisations toward Mundine that were far removed from the nature of the sport, for all these years, never even thought to see if Green, when he stood centre ring countless times (after beating the same kind of opposition that they would laugh at Mundine for fighting), and said “Mundine why wont you fight me” - they never realised that Green was also the mouth.

It’s even worse than that though – as Green had backed his dribblings up at top-level competition with much, much, less success than Mundine. But still the personal accusations flowed toward Mundine from Green in a manner that was way beyond that of the nature of the sport. The evidence was always there for the Green PR machine and all it’s visually impaired loyal followers that ate the years of misrepresentation as if it were the head of a cold beer – but despite it’s obviousness they simply didn’t want to believe the truth, so they simply rejected it and turned away, which brought the consequences we now have.

The social psychology of having all the information there, having the actual boxers, like, Briggs, Tysyu, Michael, Fenech (former Green trainer), and others leaning toward the skill of Mundine, rather than the big right of Green, just didn’t add up to correct logic for these fans. Not even when combined with all the earlier signs I have mentioned. Rather than reassess, as the experts expressed caution about the Green Machine prior to the bout with Mundine, these people kept personally slagging Mundine and now we have time to remember that. Time to remember how easily people are marketed to, even when they believe they have an analytical boxing mind and know better.

There has been so much spin coming from Green and his PR machine over these years you could (if you were blind and wearing a green machine shirt) think that Mundine had really run from Green for the last 6 years, as Green has led his faithful fans to foolishly believe. How wrong that faith was. Green not only fleeced his fans, but he made them think that his claims where well founded. Green equivocated to his fans on many occasions. Remember the Beyer head butting incident? Look at the Beyer disqualification, Green publicly told all who would listen that he didn’t head butt Beyer, when you can clearly see him do it in the slow motion replay. Green reckons he didn’t do it on purpose – that’s hilarious, and a waste as, Irish Danny Green, as he was recently calling himself, was winning that fight until that very foolish action.

Now with the memory that Green and Fenech used to promote indirectly and/or directly, sleeping beauty T-shirts with pictures of Mundine, KO’d out cold on the canvass, after his Oktte fight, lets also look at the true status of Greens’ fights - as he has many times asked us to do with Mundine over the years that he has constantly ridiculed him. Danny boy has fought a lot of guys that were “stiffs” and “padding” (Nico Toriri, Paula Tuilua, Rhon Roberts, Eni Latu, Lobe Ledua) as well.

Have a look at these guy’s records and ask yourself, if you fought them would you bag someone else’s learning opponents, particularly when the subject of your ridicule didn’t have an Olympic amateur career as you have? Now I know that it’s commonplace to step on the back of soft rubber as you learn your trade, but if your going to rubbish another fighters credentials for taking easy fights, then you have to have a squeaky clean show yourself, and this simply is not the case for Mr Green. From a financial perspective though, Green not pointing his high powered perception to smell stiffs in his own direction worked well, as his loyalists didn’t care for well gathered statistics and real facts – just bring that big right onto a stiif’s jaw, watch him drop and get dizzy in the haze of all those net purchased Green shirts that fill the pubs and clubs in Australia, was all they’re intoxicated with. And Green capitalised on this. He even became rich from it.

Now, lets take the microscope out, just for good old Fenech and Green sakes, in memory of the times that Green has shouted into the microphone that Mundine was a phony. Looking at Greens fight in Perth last December, Green’s opponent (who may have been formidable in a previous life) was Kino Garcia. Now Garcia was ranked more than 130th when Green fought him, and he is now ranked 195. This was Green’s opponent of choice, after Green fought Beyer twice! The second time Green fought Beyer he got flogged by Beyer solely because Green didn’t learn from the first fight. It appeared in the second Beyer fight that Green simply thought Beyer would be the same as he was before! Now there has been many times when the Green PR Machine would have us believe that all Choch Mundine says is rubbish, Green recently said that with his new trainer there will be new tricks, but as we saw with Garcia, and recently with Mundine, there were no new tricks.

There wasn’t even new tricks with someone of Garcia’s ilk, as Green simply couldn’t get rid of Garcia in Perth last December and the fight went the distance. Still Green’s supporters vehemently thought Green was world class! It was not a sign to these people that Danny may be at the very games that he stated Mundine was at, all while Mundine was actually training, and for the most part fighting better competition than Green as Mundine had opponents lined up such as Echols and Kessler. 

To the Olympics, lets look at the true status of what really happened in the Olympic finals when Green competed there against Alexander Lebsiak. Lebsiak simply KO’d Green. He demolished him by walking into Green with his hands down and just handed his ass to him, from that Green later promoted himself as a champ throughout New South Wales and the better part of Australia. Green also said that in the Lebsiak bout his hand was broken inferring that’s why he lost. Now lets not forget that this high scrutiny being applied here is just the same scrutiny that Green, his camp, and Fenech, applied unfairly to Mundine for 6 years, and with the full force of Fenech’s SKY boxing show, where Mundine was not afforded right’s of reply as frequently as he was attacked. Based on that it is fair to look at Green in the same way as he enjoyed the Australian public being focussed toward Mundine. Mundine didn’t have his own boxing show on TV to influence people with, for that he waited to get Green into the ring. Now, back to the Olympics, Greens hand may have been broken but Lebsiak’s team were quoted in a Russian newspaper as asking for proof that Green’s hand was truly broken, as they were annoyed that Green’s comments devalued Lebsiaks win.

What did the Australian boxing public see as a result of the Russian’s team’s request - the next day fresh from his KO loss, we saw Green’s arm in sling, on TV, with Danny saying he wants to turn professional and fight Anthony Mundine, because Mundine has only ever got where he is due to his celebrity. See the pattern with Green here? Want more proof about just how hypocritical Green is?

Lets look at Greens sportsmanship and see if it is really different from what he made his fans believe. Here we also have the fact that when Mundine and Green both fought (different opponents) in Perth last December (Green fought the highly ranked Garcia this night, and I’m not commenting on how poor Mundine's opposition was that night either as, it is Green that has slagged Mundines opposition so Green should live up beyond his own ridicule), on this night Green waited until Mundine was just about to start his fight before he came out from the change room (Green’s fight was the support bout).  At that time, just as Mundine was about to engage in his bout, Green then charged the crowd up - with the full knowledge that he knew precisely of what they were capable of, as he had indoctrinated them for the past few years about Mundine, and had seen their responses. How un-sportsman is that?

It was clear Green wanted to put Mundine off his game by doing this, as how could you know that wouldn’t happen, when you get the crowd more interested in your entrance and jeers toward Mundine, just before the main event of the night (Mundine’s fight) started. Don’t forget this was a promotion that Green asked Mundine to be present at, so this was how Green treats a guest. Based on this behaviour of Green’s toward Mundine, we can assume Green will not mind the same treatment and therefore this article is the least of his concerns. Green was integral in what happened that night after Choch's fight. Sure, Green didn’t say throw bottles, but it is incredible to believe (as Green expects us to) that Green simply didn’t know that the majority of people in Perth had believed all the propaganda about Choch and that they would not react in accordance to what they thought he would want. Very irresponsible indeed, and in doing this on that night, the bottle throwing Green supporters became the very people they accused Mundine of being.

Furthermore, sadly they didn’t even know it - you just couldn’t tell them - they were mostly too blind - cause all they ever saw was the big right hand from Green against B level competition. These same people saw Ali beat bigger and stronger men most of his life – but it was too late, as the Green T-shirts and all propaganda had already affected the public rationale by then. Green, the next night on TV, said Mundine got what he deserved, as he came to town (Perth) disrespecting the people. (This was simply not true, as Mundine did not come to Perth disrespecting anyone).

Then the next Night, the Green PR Machine was back to old tricks, thinking about the fan base revenue, Green, this night, reversed and said on TV that he thought the actions of the bottle throwing fans were unacceptable. This was incredible, as at the same time of the statement, there were pictures of Green on the TV, as Green 180 degree phase shifted his views, from the very night the bottles were thrown toward Mundine after he KO’d his opponent, the pictures clearly showed Green smiling with approval at the events Mundine had to endure. This was the fight that wet the appetite for the beat down that Green wore last week.

At the stadium the atmosphere was electric in Sydney, but after round 4 there was a lot of blank faces from the Green camp and all their hardcore supporters. These people just didn’t expect Green to be so completely outclassed, as they all believed the hype the Green PR Machine had told them. It’s thoroughly amazing that they did though, as at this level of competition all Irish Danny Green brought to the table was strength, stamina, and that big hailed right. The big right hand never found its mark with full intensity on fight night, as Green missed so many punches, whilst he also ate them that he looked like he was swatting flies, with a hungry appetite for glove leather.

Sure Green landed a few shots but this fight was an A grade boxer (Mundine) fighting a B grade fighter in Green. Mundine fought a very smart fight and set traps that Green ran into only to be greeted with more leather to feed his already announced appetite for glove leather. Greens nose bled most of the fight, but the brown dye stayed in his hair - he needn’t have bothered to furnish us with the fresh mowhawk though, as he had his wig stretched so often on the fight night that hairstyles just didn’t matter, and they certainly didn’t intimidate Mundine either.

All up Green looked embarrassed after the fight, as after going to all that effort with the cool V signs in the fight’s lead up, troubling us with TV pictures of the sad dyed mowhawk, walking in to the weigh-in, in full army kit, and all the years of trash saying that Mundine had been scared and avoiding him, when it was Green that first started to cry for Mundine after Lebsieak comprehensively flogged him to a KO at the Sydney Olympics.

Very interesting indeed, when this is all put into the perspective of what Mundine has endured from Green rather than the other way. All these things are best remembered now. It's interesting how many people have overlooked just how Green rose to the "top" and what Green himself has said and done, whilst Mundine has been unfairly ridiculed by Green. Tszyu and Barry Michael, both boxing legends here in Australia, and also as commentators on the Mundine fight night, gave Green no more than 2 rounds and constantly said Green had to change his game plan to the plan B both Green and his new trainer publicly said they had prepared for and would deliver.

Unfortunately, against opposition that Green publicly said had only got where it was due to celebrity, and like the other things from the Green camp, the plan B never happened and the Machine that was Green was comprehensively broken and dismantled by the self confessed Man. What happened? Green said he would win and we have no complete answer from his PR Machine that addresses all the years of slagging toward Mundine that has occurred. Are we are now expected to forget this?

In short when Green decided to walk out and cause havoc for Choch in Perth - just as Choch was about to start his fight, all was returned with interest last Wednesday day night at the Aussie stadium, as Green ate a lot of leather and got very exposed. On the night of the fight I heard almost a pub of people say the decision was wrong. No wonder the Green machine got away with so much for so long when stupidity is in such abundance.

Now it hurts to change your views when you have committed to them for so long, particularly when there was so much proof that you had it wrong, but perhaps now it is time for the Green Machine to take down the false statement on his website’s homepage indicating that he is/was a WBC Super middle weight champion, (as he ever was). And perhaps it is time now for Green’s fans to be the sportsmen that they have always accused Mundine of not being. Perhaps now they can accept that they have been hoodwinked by the Green PR Machine.

Johnny Lewis, Australia’s most respected trainer who has brought more boxers to world title status than any other Australian trainer, called for Green to hang up the gloves after the fight, an indication of just how one sided this historic match was. Green simply has not ever performed excellently enough at world level competition to justify his actions, his statements to his fans, or those accusations that have been cast for so many years in the direction of his conqueror Anthony Mundine.

In his victory speech Mundine was humble and complementary to Green. “Patience is the essential quality of man, and after 6 years you have shown to have it in abundance”.