Man, You're A Jones Clone

Sun Herald

Sunday August 8, 2004

By DANNY WEIDLER

ANTHONY Mundine has been described as a Roy Jones jnr clone by Jack Mosley, the man who trained his son "Sugar" Shane Mosley to three world titles in different divisions.

Mosley watched Mundine spar against his light-heavyweight hopeful Paul Briggs at Tony Mundine's Redfern gym yesterday.

Mundine is preparing for his bout against Sean Sullivan in Liverpool on September 8.

The Mundine camp has been forced to fight in Sydney after running into roadblocks trying to organise a fight in Perth, rival Danny Green's home town.

"I'm just happy that the boss got back and made me realise what was I thinking going to a small country town like Perth?" said Mundine's manager, Khoder Nasser.

"I'm glad to see that Anthony has inspired Danny Green to come back from semi-retirement or semi-consciousness, depending on which way you look at it."

Briggs will fight next Sunday at the State Sports Centre against unbeaten Croatian Stipe Drews in a World Boxing Council final eliminator.

Briggs requested a session against Mundine and trainer Mosley liked what he saw.

"This Mundine, he reminds me so much of Roy Jones jnr," Mosley said.

"It was amazing, the similarities. He looks to be a very good quality fighter. I like what I saw.

"My boy Paul, he was going very well, too. He will be ready."

Mundine has just returned from the US, where he has been training with Roy Jones jnr.

"Is that so?" Mosley said. "That explains the similarities."

Briggs was delighted that the pair could come together to spar. "This should have happened two years ago," he said.

"It takes people to go all the way around the world to realise that the best can be in your own backyard.

"I needed to get some work on my speed and Anthony is the person you want to spar in that case. His speed is very impressive.

"I thought he may have had a bit more power, though.

"Still, I suppose that his weapon is his speed and his impact comes from catching people by surprise."

Mundine said that he would be happy to spar with Briggs again.

"To spar against someone who is going to be a world champion is an honour," Mundine said.

"I hope that by working with him I can help him reach his goal of winning the title. We need to work with one another and learn from each other. We are all warriors on a path to glory and I hope Paul gets there. I know that I am going to get there.

"If anyone would have seen us spar, it was not a war, it was two creatures of beauty, showing off some magnificent skills."

* World-ranked cruiserweight Glen Kelly returns to the ring in China today for a rare professional promotion in that country.

Kelly, the ninth-ranked WBC contender, will defend his Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation title against Peter Kariuki, who held the Australian light-heavyweight title in 2002 after representing Kenya at the 2000 Olympics.

© 2004 Sun Herald

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