Mundine wins second WBA title - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Mundine wins second WBA title

08/03/2007 12:19:24 AM Comments (0)

Anthony Mundine won his second WBA super middleweight title in sensational fashion, with a stunning ninth round stoppage of fellow Australian Sam Soliman at the Sydney Entertainment centre.

Mundine put Soliman down once in the second and twice in the ninth round before South African referee Stanley Christodoulou intervened at the 2:26 mark of the ninth.

Fighting in front of a packed house of sporting and media celebrities, Mundine dominated with superior speed and power.

It was a decisive and impressive performance by the 31-year-old Sydneysider, who erased the doubts raised by his contentious split decision win over the same fighter five-and-a-half years ago.

Soliman showed great conditioning and courage to survive beyond the second round as he was stopped for the first time in his ten-year professional career.

The Victorian was competitive for the first five minutes before Mundine tilted the fight in his favour with a big right hand in the final minute of the second round.

A staggered Soliman was pushed to the canvas and then slipped to the floor in the third as Mundine went in for the kill.

The courageous but outgunned Soliman appeared to be working his way back into the bout in the fifth, but Mundine reasserted himself near the end of that round.

Soliman was wobbled late in the sixth as Mundine stuck his tongue out and talked to his battered opponent.

The game Victorian had his best round in the seventh as he landed a few more blows than his opponent.

Mundine, who first won the WBA title against Antwun Echols at the same venue in September 2003, improved his professional record to 28-3 (22 KOs).

Soliman's log dipped to 33-9 (13 KOs), though it was just his second loss in his last 23 fights since his first defeat by Mundine in September 2001.

Soliman's corner almost collapsed after the fight as people poured into the ring.

Mundine relished his return as title-holder.

"I told you I was the best," Mundine said.

"I knocked his arse out, I'm allowed to be cocky because if he would have knocked my arse down he would have been cocky, that's the name of the game, that's the sport."

But he doubted whether WBA super champion Mikkel Kessler of Denmark, who outpointed him in Sydney in June 2005, would fight him again and suggested he might drop down a division to middleweight.

"I'm looking to reign, I want to go down to middleweight and reign at middleweight and then see what the future holds for me," Mundine said.

Soliman said he got caught with a good shot in the second round.

"He caught me with a great right hand and I didn't come back from the punch," Soliman said.

"I know that I'll come back again strong, I promise you, I'm a great Aussie battler."

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