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Anthony Mundine v Danny Green: What will be The Man's legacy?

Andrew Webster

The easy option would be to pluck out the outrageous soundbite from Anthony Mundine, smack a headline on it, put it in lights.

In the space of an hour-long interview he calls boxing opponent Danny Green an "arrogant prick who'd be fighting in RSL clubs if it wasn't for me"; lashes former opponent Daniel Geale for overstating his "Aboriginality"; says racism is more than ever entrenched in this country; insists gay men and women "have a choice" in determining their sexuality; and then a whole lot of stuff about the Creator and the Almighty and Noah.

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Mundine, Green back in the ring

Anthony Mundine and Danny Green will fight again a decade after their epic in Sydney.

Let's start, however, with something deeper; a story that might explain why Mundine has such a loud voice, whether you agree with him or not. It's from the night, he claims, police drew their guns and aimed them at his head.

In the early 1990s, Mundine and his friends were driving through the streets of Waterloo and Redfern in a new Mitsubishi Magna.

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He had exploded to prominence playing rugby league for St George, and been given a car from Kogarah car dealership Newmans, a club sponsor, to drive.

"I swear to God, five or six cop cars sped up around us, screeching their tyres," Mundine recalls. "We thought there was a chase going on around us. They pulled up and said,  'Get on the f---ing ground!' They drew their guns on us. I shit myself. I put my hands in the air. My head went straight to the ground. They thought the car was stolen. We went back to the cop shop at Redfern and when they found out it was all legit, they let us go."

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Before you start thinking this is yet more Mundine bullshit, the story checks out. The Dragons' chief executive from the time, Geoff Carr, confirms the incident. Mundine adds this wasn't the first time police had pulled him over on suspicion while driving an expensive car he'd earned through football.

The story also breaks my heart – it should break yours, too – and it helps explain why Mundine has been, in his words, "militant" about racism and serious issues concerning his people. It explains he doesn't find the controversial Australia Day lamb ad as funny as others.

And, then, it also exposes the sad reality of Anthony "The Man" Mundine. Here's an indigenous sportsman who came from humble beginings, took the right path instead of the wrong one, never drank or did drugs, played professional footy, then changed sports and won world titles, who speaks his mind ... But then became a punchline.

Like many, I lost interest in Mundine years ago. I watched his second fight against Geale in January, 2013, but haven't watched one since. Whenever he found his way back into the media, usually through an outrageous remark, the story was worth a fleeting glance before turning the page.

When he announced he would be fighting Green in a rematch of their epic bout from 2006 in the middle of the Sydney Football Stadium — which Mundine won on points by unanimous decision — it was easy to shrug the shoulders. What's worse than two footballers stepping into the ring, throwing haymakers that never connect? Two ageing pugs (Mundine is 41, Green is 43) looking for one last payday.

But someone's interested. Mundine-Green II is expected to attract a crowd of more than 25,000 people. Their first fight broke pay-for-view records and this one is headed in a similar direction. The hype is building even though neither fighter had really cranked up the publicity machine. Mundine and Green haven't been hiding — but they haven't been ramming the fight down our throats.

So it's not a money fight?

"No, this is a legacy fight for me," Mundine insists. "I want to put this all to bed and then sail into the sunset. This is it, man. I've lost the desire."

He doesn't look like he has. On the day we met, at swimming coach Dick Caine's pool and gym at Carrs Park deep in St George territory, he looks like a footballer again. He's sitting here at about 79kgs — 10kgs heavier than his last fight in November 2015, a TKO loss against Charles Hartley, at super welterweight. He will go up no less than four weight divisions to a catchweight of 83kgs against Green.

There's a scar over one eye from a head clash, and a few more among his tattoos from various surgeries to ruptured tendons.

"The only way I would fight again is if I can get the fight I've always been yearning for," he says. "One of those big ones that can get me up, and get a good pay out of it. But in my mind, I am done."

And that's why I wanted to sit down with Mundine, just one last time, to find if there's anything interesting left behind the headline, the inevitable soundbite.

Interviewing him is like being in the ring with him, trading blows, some missing, some connecting. He's infuriating and enlightening all in one.

Former St George teammates say he changed when he joined the Broncos during Super League. He spent his days watching NBA in his downtime and when he returned to Kogarah he was suddenly talking like Chicago Bulls bad boy Dennis Rodman.

Mundine insists it's not all for show. I repeat Green's line in the Fox Sports promos: "Instead of uniting the nation, he divides the nation."

For mine, this has been the most perverse part of the Mundine vaudeville. That he's used the race card to whip up frenzied hatred, simply so people will pay $50-or-more to watch him lose ... so he can line his pockets.

"No, never," he says. "It's about making a change, it's about me bringing a certain awareness to subjects and issues. The fight, people are going to buy that regardless. I'm not here to sell the fight or sell myself. There's one thing about me: I'm real. I say what I feel. I speak the truth."

Then a rare concession: "Maybe I could've said it better. Maybe I should've been more educated on certain things. But it's done, I can't bring it back. But it's still the truth."

News Limited quoted Mundine in 2007 calling Sydney Olympics hero Cathy Freeman a "sellout". He denied it then but now can't even recall the entire episode.

"I don't back away from nothin'," he says. "If I said it, I said it for a reason. But I love Cathy. She's inspired a generation. I love what she's done for her people."

What about Geale, whose Indigenous heritage he questioned and attacked because "he's got a white woman, he's got white kids"?

"There's so many non-Indigenous Aboriginals claiming their Aboriginality," he says. "I'm here to protect being Aboriginal. Do you know how many claim to be when they're not just to get certain benefits they're not entitled to? I'm deep in the street. I know people that know people. And my sources say he's not. I wouldn't say it if I didn't do any research. Here's how I know I'm right: if someone said,  'Mundine, he's not Aboriginal' all my mob from Wellington, from Grafton, they'd all say, 'That's my cousin! That's my mob!' When I said it about him, nobody said nothing."

And then there's his remarks about homosexuality. In November 2013, while watching the ABC series Redfern Now, Mundine posted on Facebook: "Watching redfern now & they promoting homosexuality! (Like it's ok in our culture) that ain't in our culture & our ancestors would have there [sic] head for it! Like my dad told me GOD made ADAM & EVE not Adam & Steve".

Says Mundine now: "That's my belief, that's what my faith and my God teaches me. Aboriginality, you can't do that shit either. That's your choice."

I tell him this is dangerous and possibly lethal rhetoric, not least for those young Indigenous people struggling with their sexuality and contemplating suicide. That people have as much choice about their sexuality as he does with the colour of his skin. He bursts into laughter. "You can't say that, man!" he says, mockingly. "It's your choice to be gay! It's a choice. I believe it's a choice. My faith and my belief, the way I've been brought up, the Almighty, the creator of the heavens and the earth, says it's a choice."

Mundine converted to Islam many years ago and says his faith is getting stronger with each day.

"There's been great men sent to humankind to guide them in the right direction of the creator of the heavens and the earth. You know what I mean?"

No. I don't.

"You have the great prophets: Noah, Solomon, Jesus. All these great men trying to guide you to God's way. The more you delve in, it's black and white. There's no grey area. It's either the truth or not the truth. The Almighty and the Creator of us and the one that brought this world, this atmosphere, this galaxy, these stars, this moon, the sun, is all in perfect shape. There's got to be a power behind it. It didn't just be. The Animal Kingdom. There's a greater power, a greater source, and in my faith and my culture [homosexuality] is forbidden."

Then comes this disclaimer: "But I've got nothing against 'em. I've got really good gay mates. I have a laugh with them. I torment them and gee them up and say,  'What are you doing mate? Look at that beautiful woman'."

Mundine a week ago condemned the Australia Day lamb campaign — which featured his friend Wendell Sailor and Freeman — because it made light of the invasion of the First Fleet.

"That's different — but there's nothing wrong with you, bro," he continues. "I just think it's not right. I have a lot of gay family. They were offended, too. I said them, 'Why are you worried about me'?"

Dick Caine has known Mundine since he was 14 years old. He points to the life-sized statue of Elvis near the entrance to his pool. "Even that bloke would beat you," he says, jokingly, to Mundine.

When Mundine beat Green the first time, he was near the peak of his powers. "I was beaten by a better man tonight," Green said afterwards.

Back then, they fought at super middleweight with Mundine weighing in at 75kgs.

"Nobody has gone up four divisions, from super welterweight to cruiserweight," he says. "I'm not going to be in there with one lion, I'm going in there with five."

In preparation, he's added about 10kgs to his frame. That gaunt, sunken eye look is gone. His father and trainer, Tony, has never believed in weight training. "It's all been body weight stuff," Mundine says. "Like the monkeys do, climbing trees and bars. I'm sitting around 79, 80. I will come into the ring about that. He'll come in about 88 to 89kgs."

When Green fought Mundine last time, there was an ugly undercurrent of racism. Out on the dewy field, as the two fought in a makeshift ring in the centre, you could hear the foul barbs from the surrounding seats.

Green's fans dislike Mundine — but does he dislike Green?

"Yes."

It's fair dinkum?

"It's fair dinkum. I just think he's an arrogant prick. An arrogant dude, man, who thinks his shit doesn't stink. I want to cut him down. I don't think he's a genuine dude. That's my observation. He would still be fighting in RSL clubs if it wasn't for me. Geale, too. I make these guys names because of my name from league and my Dad's history in boxing and me being outspoken. They should be thanking me for the paydays they got."

Last year, Mundine's hero, Muhammad Ali, died after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease. He met him, just the once, during the Sydney Olympics.

"Ever since I was a kid, you've inspired me to be real," he told Ali.

Ali didn't reply. "He just hugged me," Mundine recalls.

When Ali left us, he was eulogised as a titan of humankind as much as a titan of the ring. Does Mundine seek to be understood better later in life, too?

"Malcolm X said truth is like a rock," he says. "Throw it into a pack of dogs — the one it hits will bark the loudest. I've spoken a lot of truth. Hopefully, I get that respect as the years go on. That this guy wasn't just about self-promotion. That he actually had reason behind what he had to say."

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