Читать книгу Greatest Ever Boxing Workouts - including Mike Tyson, Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Roberto Duran - Gary Todd - Страница 9
ОглавлениеCountry: Australia
Date of birth: 21 May 1975
Wins: 37 (23 KOs)
Losses: three
WBA Fedelatin Super Middleweight Champion
WBA Pan African Super Middleweight Champion
IBF Pan Pacific Super Middleweight Champion
WBA Super Middleweight Champion of the World
IBO Middleweight Champion of the World
Anthony Mundine stormed into the super middleweight division in July 2000, with an amazing sell-out crowd of over 10,000 people in Sydney, Australia turning up to see if ‘the Man’ could really fight. Mundine had been telling everyone that would listen that he was going to be champion of the world. It was a bold statement from a boxer who hadn’t even had his first fight.
He won it easily, and his next seven matches were no different. In September 2001, Mundine defended his newly-won IBF Pan Pacific title against Sam Soliman, fighting out a hard-earned points win to take one more step towards a world title shot.
He had his sights set on the strategically brilliant German champion Sven Ottke’s IBF belt, and was confident of ripping it away from him. Along with his famous boxer father, Tony, Mundine travelled to Dortmund, Germany to challenge the IBF king in December 2001, after only ten professional fights.
I remember telling ‘Choc’ Mundine he would have to prepare for Ottke with serious sparring; he was in with the big boys now. Mundine fought tremendously well and shook the unbeaten champion up, but in the tenth round he was knocked cold by Ottke.
He lost but fought well, and I believe it was Ottke’s ring experience, both amateur and professional, that made all the difference. Mundine had learned a valuable lesson in German.
‘The Man’ returned to his gym in the mean streets of Redfern, Sydney, and trained harder than ever before. He built up an impressive winning record that shot him up the WBA world rankings and earned him another chance at a world championship. To win, he had to face the experienced puncher Antwun Echols. They fought in Sydney for the vacant WBA Super Middleweight Championship of the World.
Come fight night, Mundine boxed like a veteran. He frustrated and bamboozled Echols, with his stick-and-move style, to realise his dream of becoming champion of the world. Mundine silenced his critics and fulfilled his ambition after only three years as a fighter. What a night to remember!
But winning the title was one thing, keeping it was another.
The new champion successfully defended his world title against the ageing Japanese brawler Yoshinori Nishizawa, and then took on the big-punching Puerto Rican Manny Siaca in 2004. Siaca had been around the super middleweight world for years, so this was always going to be a hard day at the office for the new champ. He lost his title by a split decision.
That could have been it, but no. Mundine came back again with more TKO wins.
Meanwhile, across the world, Manny Siaca had lost his title to the unbeaten Danish fighter Mikkel Kessler, in his first defence. Kessler had also been around a while, but was relatively unknown outside of Europe. He was a young, strong, hungry warrior who was just too much for Siaca.
In June 2005, Mundine lured Kessler, ‘the Viking Warrior’, to Australia, in a challenge for his old title. With both fighters looking in superb peak condition, Kessler and Mundine put on a show which went the championship distance. Kessler won by unanimous decision to retain his WBA title. Although he was beaten, this was Mundine’s best night in the ring by far.
Earlier on in that same year, Mundine’s longtime rival Danny Green had been in search of his own piece of greatness, travelling to Germany to face the WBC champion Marcus Beyer, but was tactically out-boxed, losing on points.
With both fighters at a career crossroads, it was announced that the two would finally meet for the biggest domestic fight Australia had ever seen.
Green was the favourite to stop Mundine. With national pride at stake, Green and his team shut themselves away in their training camp, while Mundine continued to train at his gym, later setting up a rough-and-ready makeshift camp in ‘the bush’ of Barulgil, some six hours’ drive from Sydney.
With both men mentally and physically prepared, Green entered the ring to the sound of Men at Work’s ‘Down Under’, sending the 30,000-plus crowd into a frenzy. Mundine entered the ring surrounded by bodyguards to the sound of the aborigines’ ceremonial didgeridoo.
Green was fired up, as expected, and tried to target Mundine’s body to take his legs away. But after round four, the aggressive Green could not get near him. Mundine threw the more stinging combinations, landing with pinpoint accuracy to eventually out-box ‘the Green Machine’ over 12 exciting rounds.
Since beating Green, Mundine has recaptured the WBA Super Middleweight title by absolutely destroying Sam Soliman over nine one-sided rounds. He then went the distance in his first defence against the tough but limited Argentinian fighter Pablo Daniel Zamora Nievas, in June 2007.
Fast forward to the present. Mundine has fought and beaten all who came before him, but has never ventured out of Australia. It could be said that he has never stepped up to where he should be, as he’s a world-class fighter.
At 34, Mundine has to make his move on the division’s best fighters now. He has everything to gain and nothing to lose or to prove – except perhaps to himself.
ANTHONY MUNDINE’S TYPICAL DAY
What time do you get up in the morning? 5:00am.
Do you stretch before you run? Yes, usually for about ten minutes.
How far do you run? Tuesdays and Thursdays I run four miles. Monday and Friday I do six miles. Wednesday is rest day.
After your roadwork, what do you do? I work on my strength (neck exercises using a harness and weights).
What do you have for your breakfast? Cereal, Turkish bread with scrambled eggs and beans. Fruit juice, water.
What time do you go to the gym? Around 6:00pm, but the last six weeks before I fight I go training at 9:00pm.
What time do you finish at the gym? [It’s a] two-hour session.
What do you do after training? I go to bed.
What do you have for your dinner? I have proteins: salmon, steak, salad, water.
Do you have any hobbies or interests? I love the movies, and just hanging out. also love going on vacation.
What time do you get to bed? 12:30am.
What is your favourite exercise? I love running, and it is very important to me as a fighter.
How many days a week do you train? Five days.
Before you won the world title, did you have a job? Yes, I worked in a packaging warehouse.
ANTHONY MUNDINE’S
WORKOUT
SPARRING DAYS
WARM-UP/STRETCHING: 15 to 20 minutes.
SHADOWBOXING: 20 minutes (combination/technique).
HAND WRAPS ON – HEAVY BAG: two x three minutes.
STRETCHING BEFORE SPARRING: five minutes.
SPARRING: build up to 12 rounds total.
STOMACH WORK – MEDICINE BALL: ten minutes.
WARM DOWN: five minutes.
NON-SPARRING DAYS
WARMUP: 15 to 20 minutes.
SHADOWBOXING: 30 minutes (working on punches and angles, techniques and ideas).
SKIPPING: six minutes non-stop.
FOCUS PADS: 20 minutes non-stop.
SPEED BAG: two x three minutes (30-second breaks).
STRETCHING OUT: ten minutes.
MASSAGE: once per week; steam and sauna, cold plunge in pool.
