BRISBANE, Australia – Rahim “CJ” Mundine has withdrawn from Friday’s fight with Geoff Matthews after suffering a calf strain on Tuesday morning.
The middleweight son of the retired super-middleweight champion Anthony injured himself while running and did so at sufficiently late notice that it was only at the open workouts staged to publicise Friday’s pay-per-view, headlined by Nikita Tszyu-Michael Zerafa, that promoters No Limit learned of the development. Matthews, 21, was conducting an interview to discuss their fight when the news was confirmed.
“Unfortunately he strained his calf this morning running, and as you know strains in the calf can take a while to recover and heal,” said Anthony Mundine, who is also his trainer.
“It’s unfortunate. We’ve just got to take it on the chin, get his body right again, and get him back out in the ring as soon as possible.
“It ain’t smart [to fight with the injury]. It ain’t smart – it’s dumb.”
Rahim Mundine, 24, was on the eve of his third fight as a professional. The occasion at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, owing to the significant interest in the all-Australian grudge match between Tszyu and Zerafa, represents the biggest in which he had been involved.
“I’m disappointed,” he said. “I trained really hard for this – a big card, Nikita Tszyu-Zerafa, I was excited. It is what it is. The main thing is I’m ready to fight – I train really hard, I’m ready to fight. My dad doesn’t want me to get in the ring if I’m not 100 per cent – that’s the truth.
“I understand that – he’s my father – it makes sense. It is what it is.
“It’s not my decision. My dad – he knows what’s best for me. I’ll be back. It is what it is – things happen – but I’ll be back
“I trained hard. Of course I want to fight.”
