By Mark Vester
Trainer and former champion, Jeff Fenech, is urging WBA "regular" super middleweight champion Anthony Mundine to stop fighting easy opponents.
On Sunday in Sydney, Australia, Mundine demolished journeyman Jose Alberto Clavero in four rounds. Hours later, Mundine was screaming for a rematch with Danny Green. The only problem is that Mundine has already beaten Green, and without much trouble. The bout with Green was huge in Australia, putting a lot of money in Mundine's pockets. Fenech feels Mundine will never reach his full potential by chasing a big payday with a Green rematch.
Green challenges Stipe Drews for the WBA light heavyweight title in Perth on Sunday. AAP quoted the radio interview of Fenech, who said Mundine has fought nobody and when he stepped up in class, he lost because of his inability to properly prepare for big fights.
"I think Anthony Mundine has enormous potential but how is he going to get better? How is he going to prepare for fights against Joe Calzaghe or Mikkel Kessler fighting these fights?" Fenech told Sydney radio 2KY. "All this talk about him wanting to be the best and fight the best really isn't happening. He has got the ability to beat all these guys. It's just a pity this kid is going to go down as one of the great potential fighters who just didn't go to the top.
"He's fought nobody, and every time he's stepped up to the mark he's lost because of fights like this prior to the fight. It's never going to happen for the kid unless he steps up to the plate and says 'Listen, for the next 12 months I'm going to fight some good fighters, I'm going to go to work and I'm going to prove to everybody I can fight'.
"If he does that I'm sure that he'll reach the top level of his career. I have never seen a kid with more natural ability and talent than Anthony Mundine ... it's a pity he doesn't have the dedication."
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