By Edward Chaykovsky

Former champion Anthony Mundine has continued his campaign to secure a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

As holder of the WBC silver title at junior middleweight, Mundine believes Mayweather is obligated to grant him with a mandatory defense. Mayweather holds the WBC/WBA world titles at welterweight and junior middleweight.

Mayweather is scheduled to return on September 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The opponents Mayweather has mentioned in multiple interviews include Andre Berto and Karim Mayfield. The likely frontrunner is actually British star Amir Khan.

Mundine believes he is a better opponent than Khan. Both boxers are Muslim, but Mundine drew heavy criticism many years ago when he alluded that the United States deserved the deadly impact of the 9/11 attacks. Mundine has long claimed his words were twisted around and taken out of context.

“I would be the villain, I am the only one in the world who could be a villain against Mayweather,” Mundine said to The Daily Telegraph. “It’s his last fight, and I present him with the opportunity to finish as the good guy.”

“I am a proud Muslim, and yes Khan is a Muslim too but he doesn’t have the stigma that I’ve got over me there in the United States. That is always going to haunt me. I was taken out of context 14 years ago. I know in my heart I never meant that innocent people deserved it — that is not a part of Islam — but they will use that against me.”

“I am chasing my dreams and I want to fight the best. I am a massive Floyd fan, but that doesn’t mean I can’t beat him. I have got the style and the size. He’s been talking about fighting Berto and ­Mayfield. There is no way they can give Mayweather more problems than I can.”