KC Hill
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Craig Hill
Oracle of DelphiMan's sweet science destroys the Machine.
May 19th 2006 04:07
Wednesday night represented perhaps the most momentous moment in Australian sport. I refer, of course, to the long anticipated fight between Anthony 'the Man' Mundine and Danny 'the Machine' Green.
The fight went the whole twelve rounds with Mundine, The Black Superman, prevailing on a points decision. Although he lost the opeing round Mundine was ahead on points from the second round on, improving his record to 26-3 and earning the right for a title rematch with WBA super middleweight world champion Mikkel Kessler of Denmark.
The fight saw the culmination of six years worth of verbal sparring between the two fighters which started when Mundine quit rugby league in order to follow in his father's footsteps in the quest for a world title.
For Green, an uncompromising fighter from Western Australia, it was his first loss in a professional non-title fight. His two previous losses were in WBC world title bouts against Markus Beyer. However, as Danny Green's website points out, the Perth native may have lost the fight but he definitely retained his pride:
"DANNY GREEN lost the fight but enhanced his reputation as one of the class acts of Australian boxing last night by humbly accepting defeat and paying tribute to conqueror Anthony Mundine. On a night almost certain to enter Australia's boxing folklore, Green was comprehensively beaten as the arch enemies collided before a crowd of more than 30,000 at Aussie Stadium"
I went to the fight, and let me tell you, the atmosphere was absolutely electric. Sure, it was a literally and metaphorically 'heavy' crowd. Indicative of this atmos was the visibly presence of the super massive Bandidos and Comancheros, their tables competently attended by representatives from three notorious/famous (depending on your outlook) Sydney stripclubs.
A troubling aspect of the event was the fight's semiotics; the way in which it became, as a result of its production, a fight between white and indigenous Australia (thankfully, this time indigenous Australia won). Green entered the ring to the parochial strains of Men at Work's 'Down Under' and was heralded under an Australian flag. Following Green, Mundine entered under the Aboriginal flag and indigenous rap music. Adding to the fight's racial symbolism was the unofficial segregation of the crowd, something which was a bit of downer on the night.
If any artistic extrapolations can be drawn from the fight - it is that boxing arenas seem to be spaces in which divisions between 'high' and 'low' culture totally collapse. Evidence - Lachlan Murdoch and Ray Martin sitting alongside strippers and gansters, as well as the unusual register of dress illustrated, people wearing suits (formal 'high') but with rats tail or mullet haircuts (informal 'low'). The same goes for the women (all 7 of them) at the fight. They might wear a standard evening dress, but then add something really trashy to it eg fmbs. Similarly, people sitting on cheap plastic chairs but eating five star food.
Man v Machine
The fight went the whole twelve rounds with Mundine, The Black Superman, prevailing on a points decision. Although he lost the opeing round Mundine was ahead on points from the second round on, improving his record to 26-3 and earning the right for a title rematch with WBA super middleweight world champion Mikkel Kessler of Denmark.
The fight saw the culmination of six years worth of verbal sparring between the two fighters which started when Mundine quit rugby league in order to follow in his father's footsteps in the quest for a world title.
For Green, an uncompromising fighter from Western Australia, it was his first loss in a professional non-title fight. His two previous losses were in WBC world title bouts against Markus Beyer. However, as Danny Green's website points out, the Perth native may have lost the fight but he definitely retained his pride:
"DANNY GREEN lost the fight but enhanced his reputation as one of the class acts of Australian boxing last night by humbly accepting defeat and paying tribute to conqueror Anthony Mundine. On a night almost certain to enter Australia's boxing folklore, Green was comprehensively beaten as the arch enemies collided before a crowd of more than 30,000 at Aussie Stadium"
I went to the fight, and let me tell you, the atmosphere was absolutely electric. Sure, it was a literally and metaphorically 'heavy' crowd. Indicative of this atmos was the visibly presence of the super massive Bandidos and Comancheros, their tables competently attended by representatives from three notorious/famous (depending on your outlook) Sydney stripclubs.
A troubling aspect of the event was the fight's semiotics; the way in which it became, as a result of its production, a fight between white and indigenous Australia (thankfully, this time indigenous Australia won). Green entered the ring to the parochial strains of Men at Work's 'Down Under' and was heralded under an Australian flag. Following Green, Mundine entered under the Aboriginal flag and indigenous rap music. Adding to the fight's racial symbolism was the unofficial segregation of the crowd, something which was a bit of downer on the night.
the victorious Man
If any artistic extrapolations can be drawn from the fight - it is that boxing arenas seem to be spaces in which divisions between 'high' and 'low' culture totally collapse. Evidence - Lachlan Murdoch and Ray Martin sitting alongside strippers and gansters, as well as the unusual register of dress illustrated, people wearing suits (formal 'high') but with rats tail or mullet haircuts (informal 'low'). The same goes for the women (all 7 of them) at the fight. They might wear a standard evening dress, but then add something really trashy to it eg fmbs. Similarly, people sitting on cheap plastic chairs but eating five star food.
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