By Srithar Visuasam: Anthony Mundine (40-4, 24 KOs) takes on compatriot Garth Wood (10-1-1, 6 KOs) over 10 rounds this Wednesday night at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. Fought at middleweight, this will be a rematch for their December 2010 bout which saw the rank outsider Wood knockout the two division world champion Mundine in the fifth round of their encounter.
The December bout was originally signalled as the final bout before Mundine’s journey to the United States to pursue the biggest names in the junior middleweight division. Wood pulled out the stop sign and given the outcome of the contest, Mundine sought for an immediate rematch to heal the wounds of the previous fight.
With taunts being thrown from both teams over the past few weeks, things got even more heated today at the weigh in, where Mundine and Wood got physical which saw Mundine grab Wood by his throat in a reaction to what appeared as a headbutt from Wood, escalating tensions between the two camps to greater levels on the eve of the bout.
Wood has shown a great ability to win against the odds, as he proved in The Contender Australia series over late 2009 / early 2010 where he upset a number of more fancied fighters in claiming the title and thereby earning the right to challenge Mundine, the then IBO middleweight champion. Wood defeated the likes of Victor Oganov and Kariz Kariuki to claim the title and was the most inexperienced fighter of the competition, entering the tournament as a five fight novice.
Now twelve fights into his career, he has the distinction of being the first Australian fighter to defeat Mundine and has carried a great deal of momentum into a fight which shapes as one of the most important of Mundine’s 10 year professional boxing career.
After this bout, Mundine has remained steadfast in his plans to head to America, which is set to include training with legendary trainer Freddie Roach and hopefully landing a shot at WBA junior middleweight champion Austin Trout.
The question is whether Wood will be able to derail those plans again and despite going into the bout as clear favourite, Mundine will certainly have his work cut out if he is to claim victory.
This bout will be broadcast in Australia this Wednesday 13 April 2011 from 7pm through Main Event, available to Foxtel and Austar subscribers at a cost of $49.95 per household.