Anthony Mundine stopped Sam Soliman, a fellow Australian in round nine to win the vacant WBA super middleweight title.
Soliman was floored by Mundine in round two but sent to the canvas twice in round nine before the referee stepped in and stopped the fight.
Mundine beat Soliman by a split decision in 2001 but this fight waved away any doubts as to who was the better fighter, it was quite clearly Mundine.
Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler, who also holds the WBC belt, is the WBA’s so-called ‘unified’ champion.
Mundine, 31, has improved to 28-3 (22 KOs) while Soliman is 33-9 (13 KOs).
Mundine lost his first shot at a world title by defeat against Sven Ottke in December 2001 but Mundine beat Antwun Echols on points to win the WBA title in September 2003.
However Mudine then lost the title to Manny Siaca in May 2004, before losing to WBA champion Mikkel Kessler in June of 2005.
Could Mundine possibly face Joe Calzaghe?
Perhaps. If Calzaghe wants another belt then this fight is a strong possibilty. If Calzaghe want more money, then he will keep fighting high profile boxers like Peter Manfredo. If Calzaghe wants respect, then he will fight Mikkel Kessler, who is the other dominating force in the super middleweight division.
What do you think?
Of course this is a good win for Mundine, but he was no facing a top quality boxer, a good boxer maybe, but not in the same league as Joe Calzaghe, Mikkel Kessler etc.
Can Mundine step up his game to fight bigger, better boxing match ups?
