Mosley vs Mundine fight is off, but could be rescheduled

It's not expected, but it's also no surprise: Shane Mosley has left Australia and canceled Wednesday's fight with Anthony Mundine after the promoters of the fight failed to pay him the $700,000 that they owed him ahead of the fight. Mosley was due to receive $1 million in total, and was given a $300,000 advance "a few weeks ago."

Mosley, 42, has reportedly already left the country, according to retired Aussie boxing star Jeff Fenech, who was actually the one who paid Mosley the $300K in an escrow account when Mosley first threatened to walk from the fight in August.

"Shane has listened to his management, his contract wasn't fulfilled and he went home," Fenech told Sky Sports Radio. "He is managed by professional people in America and there was something that wasn't done contractually so he has been told to go home."

The Herald Sun reports that only 1,500 tickets had been sold as of Sunday, after promoters budgeted for 9,000 and 80,000 in pay-per-view sales. Simply put, the Mosley-Mundine fight does not appear to have lit a fire for Aussie boxing fans, who may be tired not only of Mundine fights, but of seeing forty-something Americans who are years past their best paraded out as special attractions, as they've seen with Roy Jones Jr, Antonio Tarver, and James Toney in recent years.

There is talk that the fight could still take place within six weeks' time, though, with Khoder Nasser possibly stepping in to promote the fight. Nasser is a powerful sports agent and boxing promoter in Australia, but he and Mundine split last year after working together since the 1990s, when Mundine was playing rugby. Nasser was involved in a bit of scandal earlier this year for the handling of the Sonny Bill Williams-Frans Botha fight, which was a debacle in basically every way.

Two quick updates: Richard Schaefer has confirmed that the fight is off, and Aus-Boxing.com tweeted a photo of Mosley and Sergio Mora as they were waiting for their flight out of Australia.

One more: Official statements from Mosley and Schaefer below.

"I'm very disappointed with this turn of events because I was planning on making a big statement by beating Mundine, but I was left with no choice but to withdraw," said Shane Mosley. "The fans in Australia have welcomed me with open arms, and I hope to return to fight for them one day in better circumstances."

"It's unfortunate that this fight will not be taking place, and we apologize to all of Shane's Australian fans, but there are contracts in place for a reason, and when the terms are not adhered to, we have no choice but to protect our fighter, and that's what happened here," said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions.