Green Takes No Pleasure In Hurting Rivals

Hitman with a heart: the human side to methodical Green Machine December 5, 2009 Ads by Google Carlton Dry Beer Have You Ever Had A Dry Dream?Tell Us & You Could Win Free Beer! www.CarltonDryDreams.com Taste of blood ... Danny Green attacks Roy Jones jnr. Taste of blood ... Danny Green attacks Roy Jones jnr. Photo: Steve Christo Danny Green thumped the great Roy Jones jnr but he admits he takes no pleasure from punishing rivals - never has - it's purely business, he tells Daniel Lane. As Danny Green pounded Roy Jones jnr's torso and head with 49 unanswered blows during the all-time great's 122-second trip into a boxer's personal Hades on Wednesday night, he needed to block out the sickening sound that signalled when his punches hit their mark. ''He groaned and moaned each time,'' Green says. ''He was semi-conscious … groggy .. his eyes were rolling but Roy was still on his feet. I was like a white pointer that had tasted blood .. body punches? I was chopping him in half … and I heard him moan and groan. It was his heart, mate, it was his will. The fact he remained on his feet is, I think, a testimony to his will. I felt a deep admiration for him because despite what was happening, all that he was going through, Roy wanted to remain on his feet. He is a true warrior.'' Green has said before he tries not to dwell on what he must do to another human being to reach the top of the sport's tree. He is aware he not only puts at risk his opponent's well-being but also their ability to continue to make a living out of the sport. ''Heavy duty thoughts,'' he says before nodding in mute agreement to the suggestion his is a profession of kill or be killed. It should be noted, too, that the weight of public opinion suggested Green had no chance of retaining his IBO world cruiserweight belt against the American. Green, who'll celebrate his fame as a world-beater tomorrow by joining his wife Nina in taking their daughter Chloe to nippers in Perth and playing on the sand with son Archie, said his natural instinct was to give an opponent a fair go. He can recall the time when he was an apprentice carpenter with the West Australian Water Board and he fought in a suburban park an older apprentice electrician who was also a martial artist. Green, who'd dabbled in kickboxing, insisted they remove their heavy work boots to minimise the possible damage and also their shirts so no one could identify their employer. When the 'sparky' shaped up to either kick him or throw a punch - Green can't remember which it was - the future world champion and destroyer of the Roy Jones legend flattened his foe with a clean shot on the chin. He split the electrician's lip and a jagged scar remains on his knuckle as a reminder. ''Blood was spurting everywhere,'' Green recalls. ''But I was terrified I'd killed him. He hadn't moved and for the 10 or 20 seconds he lay rigid on the ground, I thought I was in serious trouble. When he came to he pieced together what happened and insisted we continued. I gave him a chance to give up but when he wanted to fight on I gave him more time to recover.'' The electrician eventually surrendered after a bombardment of heavy blows, but when Green saw the state he was in he drove him to the local doctor for treatment. While Green vowed pre-match to ''destroy'' the American he feels the same pang of empathy when asked about the great Jones, an eight-time world champion who is certain to be inducted into the sport's Hall of Fame, as he did that long-gone afternoon for the electrician. ''I don't want to be that bloke,'' he says when told he may have ended Jones's career. Chances are though he will be remembered as ''that bloke''. Jones arrived to Sydney basking in the glow of a false dawn after his comprehensive victory against former two-time world champion Jeff Lacy last August on the card he co-promoted with Green in Biloxi, Mississippi. People marvelled at Jones's speed as he used the very loose ropes that looped the ring to his advantage. For 10 rounds, his fists a blur, he rained hell on Lacy. There was no mercy. While members in the crowd implored Lacy's corner - and then the referee when they failed to listen to their plea - for the beating to end, Jones turned to Green and sneered as if he was enjoying the exhibition. Green smiled, but what he observed was the fact Jones jnr couldn't put away his faded star of an opponent. He also made the mental note to ensure the ropes were drum tight in Sydney. He studied tapes of Jones and concluded he was not what most would term a ''brave'' fighter. ''Don't confuse that with courage, because Roy Jones is obviously a courageous man,'' Green says. ''He's very smart and very clinical. I saw if he got whacked he's unlike me, because I'll come out swinging. My approach is, 'OK, here's a taste for you'.'' And Green says once Jones became painfully aware of his intent at Acer Arena, to punch and to destroy, the legend's eyes betrayed the brave front he attempted to convey via a smile. ''I'd noticed from watching tapes that every time he was attacked he'd pull his fists up in front of his face,'' Green says. '' That formed a rare hole in his defence, just above his groin guard, and that was my spot. ''I double jabbed to his head and then went the body. He smiled at me. And that was the instant I knew I'd hurt him.'' During one of their other brief exchanges the pair hit one another with simultaneous jabs. Green's head was snapped back but he landed the heavier punch. He responded by ''growling'', and Green says that primal reaction rattled Jones. A few seconds later he was on the canvas; a few seconds more he was being savaged. Unlike the electrician in Perth it was perhaps a tender mercy there was no time for the courageous Jones to recover to taste more.