The 2002 Commonwealth Gold Medallist and the man who has ruled the Australian Cruiserweight scene for many years, Brad Pitt, is refusing to back down from his challenge to Danny Green.
Pitt, whose comments have thus far failed to gain a response from the ‘Green Machine,' has stepped up his efforts to draw Green into the all-Aussie fight.
Pitt's representative, Penny Lane, has issued a strongly worded statement to Zero US Sports, and a series of other outlets, referring to the rumoured Green/Mundine rematch as belonging on “a stage on the morning news show” and as “making a mockery of the sport”.
Pitt's “Hollywood Fight Promotions” release also stated that:
“For them two to fight each other makes a mockery of the sport – treating it as a ‘game' where there is a chance things could go horribly wrong”
“You would think Danny of all people would know about how things can go horribly wrong as we only need to look back at his fight against another opponent in Paul Briggs who was fighting out of his weight range and hadn't been active in 3 years after retiring on medical grounds”
“The fight was so much of a mismatch that the NSW boxing authority actually canned it from being contested there – so Danny rescheduled it to happen in Western Australia. As history shows – this was one of the greatest disasters in Australian boxing history in recent times. “
Green and Mundine have gone in separate directions since their original fight over a decade ago, with Green reverting to his more natural Cruiserweight division, while Mundine has gone down in weight.
Mundine's last fight saw him dominated by Charles Hatley at Super-Welterweight. A fight against Green would see Mundine need to pack on at least 10 kilos, as Green would be unable to come down anywhere near Mundine's most recent weight division.
Any weight loss from Green could see him sapped of the energy that saw him shut out in his original fight with Mundine. Green looked like a ghost of his normal healthy self on the scales prior to the Mundine fight.
Pitt, a genuine Cruiserweight, would pose a much more natural physical challenge for Green. At 90 kilos, both men would be strong enough that they would maintain their energy, but light enough that they would put on an entertaining fight.
There are rumours Green is about to announce a match with a young fighter who is yet to fight outside of his own state.
In response to those rumours, Pitt pulled no punches, saying: "He prides himself on being an Aussie battler, but he's never given a legitimate Australian opponent the opportunity. The public deserves a real fight and I think everybody knows he'll get that from me,"
"The last time Danny Green fought an Australian, it went for thirty seconds and everybody thought his opponent took a dive."
Pitt is more than happy to put his hand up, explaining: "If Green wants to keep fighting, he needs to fight a live body. The Australian public knows when they're being sold a circus, and that's what is happening at the moment when he fights."
Unlike Mundine, Pitt is not making any outlandish demands. He is just looking to fight.
"We are the consensus number one and number two cruiserweights in Australia. Let's find out who the better man is, no catch weights and no added stipulations. Send me a contract."