Take Mundine to continue winning run
Boxing 
/ Nick Tedeschi / 08 January 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market
Ignore the distractions and the off-again, on-again lead up to the bout, Anthony Mundine is still very much The Man to have faith in on Monday in Sydney, writes Nick Tedeschi.
For those who want to get involved in the action, the wise money is on Mundine by a unanimous decision.
Mundine comes up against Robert Medley at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in a contest that is now a non-title affair.
Originally, it was to be under the auspices of the IBO, with the junior middleweight world title up for grabs, but Mundine reportedly had trouble making the 69.7kg weight limit.
That's not Mundine's version of events, but it took some hurried talks over several days to resurrect the bout, dubbed "The Australian bash".
Both fighters have good records, with Mundine boasting a 37 (23)-3 record and "Deadly" Medley owning a record of 27 (17)-2.
Mundine will be favourite
But Mundine regards this very much as a step along the way to his destiny, and will start a very warm favourite.
He expects to brush aside Medley and (after a contractual obligation to fight the winner of reality TV series The Contender) hopefully to tackle the likes of top-rated middleweights Kelly Pavlik or Felix Sturm.
Mundine has already won the super-middleweight and middleweight crowns, and has gone five years without defeat so he has every reason to feel confident.
The Sydneysider won the WBA super middleweight title against Yoshinori Nishizawa six years ago this very weekend, and despite losing it twice - most recently to Mikkel Kessler at the same venue as Monday's fight, in June 2005, reclaimed it by knocking out Sam Soliman in March 2007.
He added the IBO middleweight crown to his resume last May wehen he beat Daniel Geale in Brisbane, on a split decision, and has fought once since then - a uninimous decision over Alejandro Gustavo Falliga in October in Tasmania.
Medley undefeated for two years
Medley, born in Campsie NSW, is no slouch and has not lost since an April 2008 defeat to Isaac Hlatshwayo where the IBO welterweight title was up for grabs.
He won the IBO's Inter-Continental junior middleweight crown last year in Newcastle, with a one-sided performance against Tui Leveni, and last fought in October when he outpointed Jeremy Allan over eight rounds.
Medley's trainer, Graham Shaw, says his man will "surprise quite a few people", but the likelihood is the best Medley's backers can expect is that he takes Mundine the distance.
The events out of the ring this week have probably affected him more than Mundine, as he had prepared himself for a world title shot and will obviously have been disappointed.
For those who want to get involved in the action, the wise money is on Mundine by a unanimous decision.
