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Anthony Mundine has a fight next Wednesday in Australia against former welterweight titleholder Joshua Clottey, and went on another of his trademark rants at a press conference for the fight, saying he still does not get the credit he deserves, and never has.
"It doesn't matter if I beat King Kong, if I beat Superman or Batman," Mundine said. "They'll say Batman's car wasn't there, or Superman's cape wasn't on. They'll just keep bringing up stuff to make excuses for. Danny Green, the weight loss problem. They've always got an excuse for something. They never give me the credit I deserve. I'm the best out there, and that's what I'm out to prove."
Mundine (46-5, 27 KO) is a former titleholder at super middleweight, and has moved down as he's aged, fighting at both middleweight and lately as a junior middleweight. In his last fight, he beat also-ran Gunnar Jackson in January, which followed a pretty dominant win over Shane Mosley last November.
The 38-year-old Mundine says he's preparing to face a tough foe in Clottey (37-4, 22 KO), who has all but disappeared from the boxing landscape following his brutally boring 12-round loss to Manny Pacquiao in March 2010.
"This is a tough foe, man. People look up Joshua Clottey, they'll see this man I can fight," Mundine said. "I've got to tame him. I've got to tame the beast and bring my own beast to get the victory. I know it's going to be a tough fight. It's probably one of the toughest of my career."
Clottey, 36, has fought just two times since his agonizing fight with Pacquiao, beating a pair of club fighters. There's no denying that Clottey was once a serious threat as a welterweight, but time and size could take their toll, and there should be some doubt about what type of fighter he is in 2014, since nobody really knows.
"The real people, the real fans, know that I'm the best ever," Mundine added. "Know that there's only one man that's done what I've done. Ain't no one crossed sports and done what I've done, and dominated two sports the way I have. I know that. I've done my own research. I know who I am. I always get belittled, and always get downplayed in my own country. That's the way it is in Australia. I've always kept it real from day one."