28.07.08 – By Srithar Visuasam: This Wednesday July 30, Australian Anthony Mundine (32-3, 23 KOs) takes on Japanese fighter Crazy Kim (Toshiharu Kaneyama) (28-4, 24 KOs) in a 10 round showdown at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia. This bout will be fought at a catch-weight of 164 pounds as Mundine, the former two-time WBA super middleweight champion, takes the first step of his planned drop to the 160 pound middleweight division..
At first glance, the bout shapes to result in another comfortable victory for the 33 year old Mundine, who has been criticised in the past for his selection of opponents. However, as mentioned, this is the first time Anthony will have fought at under 168 pounds in his career and only 2 months since his last bout against compatriot Sam Soliman on May 28. A win over Kim would set the stage for an eliminator or world title bout later this year at 160 pounds as Mundine is currently the WBA #2 contender at middleweight.
Kim, 33, has fought at multiple divisions throughout his 32 fight career between junior middleweight and light heavyweight. He is the current OPBF light heavyweight champion and ranked #19 by the WBC at 175 pounds. Kim’s major strengths are his strong punching power, where he possesses an excellent 24 from 28 wins by KO (86%) and aggressive, unrelenting style. This power is sure to test Mundine who will have to acclimatise to the lower weight and do so against a fighter with one punch knockout artillery.
A look at his record shows Kim at one stage 8-3 after 11 fights. Since then, he has fought 21 times for 20 wins. His only blemish came against Argentine Javier Alberto Mamani via 10th round knockout in October 2006. This bout was scheduled for 10 rounds and Kim was knocked out by a right hook with less than 10 seconds of the fight remaining. Going into the final round, Kim was ahead on all three scorecards and poised for victory.
Mundine v Kim is set to be an affair of contrasting styles. In Mundine’s favour is a significant advantage in speed, technique and evasive skills. Kim would have an edge in size and power and will need to use this to his full capacity to steal a win over the highly favoured Australian. If Mundine can control the larger Kim with his trademark jab, he should be able to frustrate his opponent and find holes in his defense to exploit.
This bout is set to be an entertaining match up which should produce some fireworks. It would be no major surprise if this bout ends within the distance. This writer predicts a victory to Anthony Mundine via 6th round stoppage.
On the undercard, the major supporting bout for the night will be for the vacant IBO Super Featherweight world title between 22 year old Australian Billy ‘The Kid’ Dib
(20-0, 11KOs) and 31 year old South African Zolani Marali (19-1, 13KOs).
Tickets for this Wednesday night are still available at www.ticketek.com.au with prices between $25 and $200AUD.