Anthony Mundine: “Floyd Mayweather is the best of our era, but I believe I am the best athlete of our era!”

Former super middleweight world champion, Anthony Mundine, is the current WBC Silver light middleweight champion and is the mandatory challenger for Floyd Mayweather Jr’s WBC light middleweight strap. Recently Anthony Mundine was due to fight Austin Trout, however sadly for the Australian Mundine, the fight fell through. Last week Anthony Mundine wrote an open letter to Floyd Mayweather Jr. to try and persuade the P4P star to defend his light middleweight title against Mundine in what will be Floyd Mayweather Jr’s last fight. I was very fortunate to speak to Anthony Mundine about this; here is what he had to say.

Adam Noble-Forcey: Last week you wrote an open letter to Floyd Mayweather Jr. to put yourself in the frame to fight him in his last fight. What inspired you to write the letter?

Anthony Mundine: I was getting a bit frustrated, I wasn’t really getting the fights I wanted to get. The fight fell through with Austin Trout and that was a fight I really wanted to make. I really want to fight the best and he (Floyd Mayweather Jr) is the best of our era. But I believe I am the best athlete of our era. Doing what I’ve done, nobody has walked my walk. I had to learn on the job.

I know Floyd Mayweather is aware of me as a fighter, I just thought I would reach out to him. Not in a disrespectful way, I just wanted to get his attention. At the end of the day, I know it’s a long shot, but I believe I can give him a much better fight than he’s been getting. I think our styles are very similar.

He’s a bit more skilled than me because of his experience, but I’ve been in big fights too and I’m at the point now where I believe I can mix it with the best of them. I’m a very colorful character and once they get to know my background and see what I’ve done and how I’ve done it, it’s very intriguing. I’m pretty brash and cocky in my own right; it will make for a good fight before, during and after.

Adam Noble-Forcey: You talk about your story being very intriguing. You were once considered the best Rugby league player in Australia. You sensationally quit at the age of 25 and turned to boxing. Why the change in sport?

Anthony Mundine: Well I was pretty much the best Rugby league player. At the time I left the sport, I was the highest paid player on the open market. Due to racism and politics in the game, they would never pick me for the national team and there was always uproar when I wasn’t picked.

I used to tell them (Australian Rugby league board) they come from an era that is very racist and they had a boys club that picked the team and I was never part of that. I was very outspoken, very confident and very cocky. I was three things they didn’t like; I was Muslim, Aboriginal, and a loud mouth.

Adam Noble-Forcey: What happened with the Austin Trout fight? Why did it fall through?

Anthony Mundine: Basically they were trying to protect their investment. They wanted the title, but they just kept changing terms on it. We had a deal to fight Austin Trout. Obviously I’m the champion and I should be the one asking for options or asking for a rematch. Then the fight fell through and they come back and say they want options on me.

Obviously they knew I had a good chance of winning that fight and they wanted to protect their investment. They then gave me a list of names who were all their fighters, so it was basically have a rematch with Austin Trout or fight one of these guys. These where all their (PBC) fighters and I wasn’t having that.

I got nothing against Al Haymon or PBC, but they’re just trying to protect their investment and get the best deal for their fighter. I have worked my whole life to get into this position and I can’t just give it all up like that.

Adam Noble-Forcey: Former opponent and fellow Australian Danny Green has just announced his comeback. He has been calling you out on social media. How serious do you think it is?

Anthony Mundine: It’s not serious at all. He is not out to win anymore championships. He has no more goals or dreams; it’s purely to fight me. The only way for him to be relevant is to bring me up. Ever since the beginning of my career, he’s been calling me out. The fight between me and him was the biggest fight per capita in 2006. If I were to fight Danny Green it would only be for money, I’m not motivated by money.

(Click play to listen to the Anthony Mundine in it’s entirety)