Mundine to fight Horn at long last
AFTER months of toing and froing, Anthony Mundine yesterday signed to fight fellow Australian Jeff Horn in Brisbane next month.
Horn’s promoter, Dean Lonergan, urged against running with “signed on the dotted line” as he promised fight fans this bout would signal the end of Mundine’s 18year boxing career, making “signed on the horizontal line” more relevant given that is how he envisages Mundine being carried from the ring.
“Finally it’s going to happen, but I had no idea how difficult it would be dealing with Mundine, even though I had been warned. He has been an absolute nightmare,” Lonergan said.
“Mundine is clearly extremely concerned about making weight, which was initially going to be 69.85kg. At the last minute he reneged on that and wouldn’t do anything under 71kg.
“So for the first 500g he is overweight, there is a $20,000 per 100g penalty and over that, $50,000 per 100g. So for the first kilogram he’s overweight, it’s a $350,000 penalty.
“We had to place those stipulations to ensure he didn’t try to make a mockery of the weight. And, in the end, it will be the weight that sees him knocked out later in the 12round fight.”
The fight is likely to be held on November 30, although the venue is still to be decided.
What is not uncertain is the quality of the undercard.
“We owe it to the Australian public and fighters to put the best on display, which is why you will see an exciting kid like Brock Jarvis,” Lonergan said. “Previously Mundine has had rubbish undercards and spent as little possible, which has been a travesty.
“Jeff Horn is an Australian who has done everything to endear himself to his country, whereas Mundine has repeatedly ostracised himself with a succession of insensitive and at times callous comments.
“This fight has the potential to earn them both upwards of $5 million. Once Jeff Horn wins, he will explore his options on an international scale.”