Garth Wood Update

By Craig Watt

On April 13th at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Queensland, Australia WBA#9 Middleweight Garth Wood (10-1-1, 6KO’s) meets Anthony Mundine (40-4, 24KO’s) in a highly anticipated rematch over ten rounds. The 32 year old Wood shocked the Australian boxing public when he knocked out the former two time WBA 168 pound and IBO 160 pound champion Mundine in the fifth round in December 2010. The first fight was the contracted prize for Wood after winning the popular Australian “Contender” Series and he took the opportunity with a stunning left hook that knocked out Mundine.

Wood spoke to Fightnews from his camp about his preparation and his anger about Mundine’s excuses about why he lost in their first fight.

He stated, “I am putting myself through torture in the gym to get in the best physical shape I can for this fight. As a team we are leaving no stone unturned and will be fully prepared to show the boxing world and Mundine that his excuses for losing the first fight just won’t wash. I have had some of the best sparring in my career for this camp and we have trained in Thailand to get my body in peak physical condition. This is a fight I can’t lose – and won’t lose. Some people think the pressure is all on me now after winning the first fight but I thrive on pressure. I know I am a raw fighter and only half way to being the finished article but I am a happy fighter and a dangerous one for Mundine. There will be no excuses this time when he loses.”

He added, “Mundine has convinced himself that he wasn’t right physically or mentally for our first fight and that just disrespects me and my achievement. He is just lying to himself that the reason he lost was that he wasn’t mentally up for the bout. If that is the case then this is a dangerous sport and perhaps he needs to retire and get out of the sport. Whether you are fighting Jo Blo or Muhammed Ali you should always be focussed and at your best because if you are not you could get badly injured. This is a hurt sport – not tiddlywinks. It wasn’t like it was a close points loss in December – I knocked him clean out. No excuses. To make excuses like he has just disrespects me and fuels my motivation to win – again.”

As a consequence of defeating the highly ranked Mundine in December, Garth Wood now hold a WBA#9 ranking and believes he can win a world title for Australia in the near future.

“Once I have defeated Mundine for the second time my focus is then to secure a world title shot and bring the middleweight title back to Australia. I am probably only 50% of where I can take boxing and winning the rematch can probably enhance my rankings further. Being a world champion is my ultimate goal,” he confirmed.

There is some talk in Australia that if Wood can win the rematch then a lucrative match with Danny Green could be an option.

He stated, “I hope by the end of my career I will be considered one of the best fighters Australia has seen and Danny is a boxing hero in our land. The weight difference currently from Cruiserweight to Middleweight in huge but I could fight Danny half-way if it made financial sense- I would be crazy to move up to a much higher weight and in reality I couldn’t probably get there anyway. It would be a great fight for all the boxing fans in Australia and I was reading how Danny lost 12kg with his recent illness so I am not sure at what weight he plans to fight when he returns.”

The fight with Mundine is available on PPV in Australia on Main Events and is expected to sell out the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on April 13th.

April 6th, 2011

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