Choc demands Calzaghe come clean
ANTHONY Mundine's manager has invited Joe Calzaghe's camp to formalise an offer for a unification bout between the super-middleweight title-holders and rejected claims that the WBA champion was avoiding the Welshman, saying it was the other way around.
In an interview on 2KY's Big Sports Breakfast yesterday, Calzaghe's promoter, Frank Warren, said he tabled a $US2 million ($2.38m) bid six months ago for Mundine to fight the long-reigning WBO title holder - but had never received a reply.
But Mundine's manager, Khoder Nasser, rubbished Warren's comments and said he was the one who had approached the Calzaghe camp about a possible match-up between the pair and had been waiting to hear back for the same period of time.
While he now welcomed news that Calzaghe may be interested in fighting Mundine, Nasser doubted Warren's sincerity.
"We've been calling Frank Warren for the past six months trying to get Joe Calzaghe; we have never, ever, received a reply about an offer or a counter offer," Nasser said from the Gold Coast, where Mundine is preparing for his June 27 title defence against Argentina's Pablo Daniel Zamora Nievas. "He said he offered us $2m, but to start the negotiating process Frank has got to understand that saying ain't doing.
"If you want to negotiate to fight Anthony Mundine, do you talk to 2KY or do you talk to Khoder Nasser? Why wouldn't you send something through the fax machine with your signature on it?"
Denmark's Mikkel Kessler, who beat Mundine in 2005, has been seeking a fight with Calzaghe since last September, but just two weeks ago the WBA super champion and WBC titleholder's manager, Mogens Palle, accused Warren of shielding Calzaghe from the bout.
Warren now says Calzaghe wants to accept the offer and would be willing to travel outside Britain for only the third time in his 43-fight career. Whether the bout happens remains to be seen.
"Frank Warren is an astute businessman and he wants to keep his boy on top," Nasser said. "He doesn't want to put him in dangerous fights against Anthony Mundine or Mikkel Kessler or Bernard Hopkins or Roy Jones jnr, because they've all tried to get Calzaghe.
"Speaking to people in boxing circles, they've always told me he doesn't have Anthony Mundine on his radar. If you look at Choc's history, he's never once evaded a serious fight; he had only 10 professional fights when he fought Sven Ottke, a guy that had more title defences than he'd had fights, and he didn't shy away from Kessler for one second.
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You've got to ask yourself, who has Joe fought over the past four years?"
