By Ian S. Palmer
Anthony Mundine vs Bronco McKart Preview July 14
Australia’s Anthony Mundine will be fighting for the first time in the U.S. on July 14 when he takes on Bronco McKart of America in a 10-round jr.middleweight bout at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.
McKart was a decent southpaw boxer in his day, but he’s now 41 years old and is considered to be more of a journeyman opponent. He’s got a record of 54-9-1 with 32 Kos. He’s been beaten by some top talent over the years such as Roman Karmazin, Kelly Pavlik, and Winky Wright. In fact, three of his nine losses came against Wright. The Michigan native managed to win the vacant WBO Jr. Middleweight Championship back in 1996 with a win over Santos Cardona, but Wright beat him in his first defence of the belt.
Mundine was offered a bout against WBA title holder Austin Trout, but turned it down to make a name for himself in the U.S. first. McKart is still known in America, but has fought just five times since 2008, winning his last three. It seems like a safe move by Mundine for his first trip to America, but he’s going to have to win it to be offered any big name opponents in the future.
The 37-year-old Mundine last fought in October of 2011 and beat Rigoberto Alvarez by a 12-round unanimous decision. He’s hoping to become the first boxer to win titles in four different weight divisions in descending order. So instead of going up in weight to win title belts he’s moving down with each victory. His ultimate goal is to meet Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Mundine has a 43-4 record with 25 KOs and is 5-foot-11 with a 70-inch reach. Two of his losses were both in super middleweight title bouts by unanimous decision to Mikkel Kessler and split decision to Manny Siaca. He was also stopped in the 10th round by Sven Ottke in a junior middleweight title fight and Garth Wood stopped him in the fifth round of their first fight in 2010. Mundine avenged that with a unanimous decision in an immediate rematch.
Mundine caused some controversy in 2001 when he said that America brought the 9/11 terrorist attacks on themselves. He tried to clarify his statements and said they were taken out of context, but McKart said he’s going to use them as a motivational tool. Meanwhile, Mundine has been sparring at the Mayweather club in Las Vegas and has found that his sparring partners haven’t forgotten his remarks and have been trying to hurt him during their sessions. Mundine said he’s anti-war and doesn’t wish harm upon anybody and wants to clarify his position.
As for the fight itself, this is a bout that Mundine should win by either a late stoppage or unanimous decision.
