Danny Green

For people with similar names, see Dan Green (disambiguation).

Danny Green
Green prior to a match in July 2011
Statistics
Nickname(s)	The Green Machine
Rated at	Light heavyweight Cruiserweight
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Nationality	Australian
Born	9 March 1973 (1973-03-09) (age 38) Perth, Western Australia
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	35[1]
Wins	31
Wins by KO	27
Losses	4
Draws	0
No contests	0

Daniel "Danny" Green (born 9 March 1973) is an Australian professional boxer and the former IBO cruiserweight champion.

Amateur boxing career and the Olympics

Born in Perth, Western Australia, Green began as an amateur boxer. Success at the State Amateur level led to him being selected for an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship to prepare for 1998 Commonwealth Games and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Green qualified for the Olympic team, stopping Brazilian Laudelino Barros in the fourth and final round of his first bout. However, Green was technically knocked out in the later rounds of his bout against Russian Alexander Lebziak due to Lebziak holding a points advantage that was seen to be too great for Green to overcome - a regulatory circumstance typically viewed in Olympic boxing as an indication that one fighter is outclassed by the other - boxing fights within Olympic contests (unlike professional boxing) are often stopped if and when when a fighter is deemed to be so significantly behind on points that the liklihood of him recovering the disadvantage and being successful is seen to be marginal. In these circumstances that are defined by a set threshold margin between the points each boxer attains throughout the bout, due to health and safety concerns the fight is stopped if one boxer has a points lead that is equal to or greater than the set threshold. After the bout was stopped for these purposes and because Alexander Lebziak attained such a points lead, Green claimed his hand was broken and spoke of the fight in terms that attributed the loss to his broken hand. However, right from the start of the contest and throughout the entire bout Lebziak was noticably dominant and Green sustained what many believed to be facial injuries from Lebziak's punches. Lebziak was an excellent Russian boxer and he then went on to claim the Olympic Gold Medal.

Professional career

After the Olympics, Green decided to turn professional. He won his first bout by a second round technical knockout ovr Waqa Kolivuso on 29 June 2001 in his adopted hometown of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. A strong puncher, Green won all of his first 16 fights by KO or TKO, earning him a match with Germany's Super Middleweight World Champion Markus Beyer.

Green fought Beyer on 16 August 2003 in Germany. Green floored Beyer twice, opening a cut above the champion's right eye that had to be closed between the third and fourth round. In the fifth round, a clash of heads opened the cut again. The referee ruled it was deliberate on Green's part, and he was disqualified. All three judges had Green ahead on their scorecards. Green was granted a rematch on the condition that he fight two contenders nominated by the WBC.

Green defeated Eric Lucas by a 6th round knockout on 20 December 2003, in Montreal, Canada. He next defeated Sean Sullivan by a unanimous decision on 21 March 2004 in Perth. On 29 September 2004, Green fulfilled the WBC requirements for a rematch by stopping Omar Eduardo Gonzales in the fifth round in Sydney. Beyer was still the reigning champion, and a bout with Green was scheduled for March 2005. Once again it would be fought in Germany.

Green began his rematch cautiously, trying to outbox Beyer in the early rounds. However, Beyer was the more skilled boxer and opened a large points lead. Near the end of the fight, Green realized he needed a knockout to win. He took the last three rounds, and scored the fight's only knockdown in the final round. Beyer was a majority winner on two of the three cards, with one judge scoring it a draw.

Green and trainer, former world champion Jeff Fenech went separate ways, and Green then hired Cuban Olympic trainer Ismael Salas. Green stopped James Crawford in the 5th round of his next fight on 3 July 2005 in Perth.

Rivalry with Anthony Mundine

Green with a fan

Green long had a rivalry with Australian Super Middleweight boxer Anthony Mundine, a son of former champion Tony Mundine. Following Green's loss to Beyer, both boxers found themselves at a low and negotiations commenced.

Green had more popular support, but he was forced to make concessions for a Mundine showdown. A qualifying fight was assigned for each man. The bouts were on the same card in Perth on December 11, 2006, and it was considered a double main event.

Green defeated Mexican Kirino Garcia in a match that went the full ten rounds. All three judges scored it for Green at 100-90. Green changed clothes and returned to watch Mundine battle New Zealander Rico Chong Nee.

Mundine entered to boos, catcalls and abuse. He stopped Nee in the third round, then threatened Green from the ropes. Mundine left the arena in a hail of plastic cups and bottles.

Green and Mundine fought in Sydney on 17 May 2006. From the start of the fight Green was unable to connect due to Mundine's movement and superior speed. As Green became more frustrated Mundine's defence and fast hands took over and became the keys to a history making dominant performance where Mundine's skills made it evident that Green was not in the same class as Anthony. Throughout the fight Mundine's ability to remain relaxed, throw fast combinations and move away when Green lunged forward to attack ensured Green consistently missed - which in turn allowed Anthony to regularly capitalise on the openings Danny's misses created; as the compubox punch stats at the time revealed. By the 6th round Mundine's confidence was in full swing and he had taken total control of the bout. It was abundantly clear within the minute's break between rounds 6 and 7 that Green would need to land a KO blow or execute the plan B he had advised the media he possessed before the fight, if he were to win. However, it was not to be. Mundine started round 7 fast and landed a solid unanswered right hook on Green's jaw. From that point onward Green began to look so significantly outclassed against Mundine that it was as if he was going to be without an answer to Mundine for the entire night. The 10th round came and Green had not yet significantly dominated an exchange or controlled the fight - the outcome, in front of an Australian record size attendance crowd, now seemed imminent. Considering all the years that Danny Green had publicly taunted Mundine, including attending his fights wearing "sleeping beauty" T-shirts replete with printed pictures of Anthony Mundine laying on the canvass after his KO loss to Sven Ottke; it must have been an embarrassing disaster for Green. Where after having campaigned so publicly, episodically and very spitefully all the many years leading up to this night and fight - employing strong overtones of negativity towards Mundine coupled with loud messages that described Anthony's ability to fight genuine opponents in belittling terms - only to now found himself completely mastered by the very same person Danny had taken so much time and effort to publicly ridicule and label "too scared to fight me". Danny Green managed to last the full 12 rounds, but Mundine won by a unanimous points decision: 118-113, 116-113 and 118-111.^[2][3]

The following day, Green announced the rivalry between Mundine and himself was over. He said he respects Mundine as a fighter, but he would seek a rematch to prove he had an off night.

Changing weights

After his loss to Mundine, Green moved up to the Light Heavyweight (despite campaigning almost solely at supermiddle weight prior to mundine, Green claimed weightdrain post bout in an attempt to save face at such a wide defeat) to fight Jason DeLisle. Danny had fought Jason twice before, losing to him on points in 2000 as an amateur and beating him in 2003 by KO in the 5th.

Green and DeLisle fought on the 20th of Sept Danny won convincingly by TKO in the 9th.

It was announced on 7 December that Danny's next opponent would be fellow Australian Paul Murdoch. The light heavyweight bout took place 21 January and Green won the bout, stopping Murdoch in the second round when a member of his corner threw in the towel.

Following the Murdoch bout it was announced that Danny's next opponent would be Manny Siaca in an IBO World Title Eliminator. However, the fight was cancelled after Siaca contracted a viral infection and in its place Green fought American Otis Griffin at Challenge Stadium on 19 July. Griffin, who began his boxing career after winning a reality TV show hosted by Oscar de la Hoya, was no match for Green who knocked him down three successive times in the third round.

His next bout was against World Boxing Association light heavyweight champion Stipe Drvis at Challenge stadium, where Green won the title by a unanimous points decision. Green became the first Australian light heavyweight champion since Jeff Harding's loss to Mike McCallum in 1994. Having won a legitimate title that would entail mandatory defenses Green had "an epiphany" and abruptly retired before facing his mandatory opponent.

Retirement and return to ring

On 25 March 2008 Danny Green announced his retirement, which lasted until April 2009, when he returned to the ring and defeated Anthony van Niekerk in Perth to capture the very lowly regarded IBO cruiser weight world title.

On December 2 Danny Green defeated Roy Jones, Jr. in Sydney to keep the International Boxing Organization cruiserweight title, claiming victory in the first round by Technical knock out. Square Ring Inc. have requested the fight be marked a no contest, due to illegal hand wraps used by Green, who refused to remove his gloves on camera after the bout. Jones said "I'd rather lose fair than win cheating." The investigation is still on-going, and a rematch clause was also signed prior to the fight. Danny Green was sued in 2010 for refusing to abide by the contract, refusing to allow Jones a rematch.^[4] On April the 14th 2010 Danny Green faced lightly regarded boxer Manny Siaca. Siaca had been campaigning at middle weight(72 kg)and was ranked at 150 in the world at middle weight at the time of the bout. Green dominated the majority of the fight while flooring Siaca in the 2nd round. Danny Green won the fight in round 3 by way of KO.

Green Vs. Briggs controversy

On 21 July 2010 Green took on Paul Briggs putting the IBO cruiserweight title on the line. The bout had to be moved from NSW to Perth as Briggs was not cleared to fight in NSW due to well known neurological damage that he had sustained. Before the bout Green labelled Briggs "unprofessional" after the he weighed in nearly 4 kg over the agreed-upon weight (though Briggs still weighed substantially less than the 90 kg cruiserweight limit. It should be noted that although cruiser weight champion Danny Green to this point had never fought within 4 kg of his new class). The ensuing fight was seen as a "farce",^[5] with Briggs collapsing after 29 seconds following an innocuous left jab by Green, his first in the fight, which appears to have at most brushed the top of Briggs' head. Briggs was subsequently booed out of the stadium by irate fans, and had to be protected by management from projected missiles being thrown at him. In a post-bout interview Green labelled Briggs "less than canine" and claimed Briggs would not be getting paid for the fight, while also apologising to fans who had paid to attend.^[6] Speculation has arisen as to whether Briggs threw the fight, as online bookmaker Centrebet labelled the bout "highly, highly dubious" following a massive betting plunge shortly before the fight. Centrebet spokesman Neil Evans stated "We've never ever in the history of boxing seen so much money go on a specific decision outcome, as in a first- or second-round knockout. There was a massive go on first or second-round knockout starting from very early yesterday morning, right through the day, certainly up until early afternoon. There was one bet of $50,000, which is extraordinary on an option of a first-round knock-out, even on a hot favourite. They were both into even money, paying $2 each at around lunch-time almost, such was the amount of money just poured in the gate."^[7] The fight had been due to be held in Sydney but was moved at the last minute after the New South Wales Combat Sports Authority refused to commission the bout claiming Briggs was "unfit" to fight. It is highly possible that many fight fans were privy to leaked information that Briggs was not fighting-fit, with rumours and speculation that he had been dropped several times in training leading up to the bout.^{[citation needed]}

Danny Green next defended his IBO title against innactive journeyman B.J Flores.

Green Vs. Tarver

Danny Green next challenged semi retired actor/commentator and former light heavyweight world champion 42 year old Antonio Tarver for Green's IBO Crusierweight strap. Both fighters are coming off clear unanimous decision victories, with Tarver beating lowly ranked Nagy Aguilera 16-4-0 and Green with a win over NABO and USBA Cruiser champ BJ Flores 24-0-1. The fight is taking place in Greens backyard at the Entertainment Center, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 20 July.

Tarver defeated Green by TKO at the completion of the ninth round. Green's brother Brendan and trainer Angelo Hyder entered the ring to call off the fight as the bell rung, following sustained attack from Tarver late in the round, leaving Green dazed and unable to defend himself.

Tarver had already put Green down in the second round and generally dominated the fight. Green struggled to combat the southpaw's style and power. Tarver suggested he was prepared to offer a rematch. Green has not immediately accepted and it is expected he will consider retiring for a second time. It was the first occasion Green had ever been stopped in his 35 fight career.

Green Vs.Krzysztof Włodarczyk

Green is now set to fight, ranked no3 Cruiser-weight, WBC champion and Polish fighter Krysztof "diablo" Wlodarczyk, on 30.11.2011.

The WBC Title holder Krysztof "diablo" Wlodarczyk, is defending his belt against Green and has chosen to chase down Green over Marco Huck. Many sources have stated that Włodarczyk has been interested in fighting Green for some time. Green has instead taken Włodarczyk up for a shot at a 4th title belt, over a rematch With Tarver. Green has stated the reason being for not chasing down Tarver for a rematch was because, negotiations were too slow and Green wanted to fight before the end of the year. Tarver has denied this was the case in a tweet, Włodarczyk also stated prior to negotiations with Green that he wanted to fight Green or Marco Huck in October–November in 2011. The bout is somewhat surrounded by controversy, due to the reports of Wlodarczyk having been in an induced coma after attempted suicide in late July. Green has strenuously denied these claims, however they were well reported on all European sports and boxing sites after the 27th of July.

Professional record

Record to Date
Won 31 (KOs 27)	Lost 4	Drawn 0	Total 34

Date	Opponent	Location	Result
2011-07-20	Antonio Tarver	Sydney, Australia	LOSS TKO- 9
17/11/2010	BJ Flores	Perth, Australia	WIN UD- 12
21/7/2010	Paul Briggs	Perth, Australia	WIN KO - 1
14/4/2010	Manny Siaca	Perth, Australia	WIN KO - 3
02/12/2009	Roy Jones, Jr.	Sydney, Australia	WIN TKO - 1
16/08/2009	Julio Cesar Dominguez	Biloxi, Mississippi, USA	WIN KO - 5
26/04/2009	Anthony Van Niekirk	Perth, Australia	WIN KO - 2
16/12/2007	Stipe Drews	Perth, Australia	WIN UD - 12
18/07/2007	Otis Griffin	Perth, Australia	WIN KO - 3
21/01/2007	Brad Murdoch	Melbourne, Australia	WIN KO - 2
21/09/2006	Jason Deslisle	Perth, Australia	WIN TKO - 9
17/05/2006	Anthony Mundine	Sydney, Australia	LOSS UD - 12
11/12/2005	Quirino Garcia	Perth, Australia	WIN UD - 10
03/07/2005	James Crawford	Perth, Australia	WIN TKO - 5
12/03/2005	Markus Beyer	Zwickau, Germany	LOSS UD - 12
29/09/2004	Omar Eduardo Gonzales	Sydney, Australia	WIN TKO - 5
21/03/2004	Sean Sullivan (boxer)	Perth, Australia	WIN UD - 10
20/12/2003	Eric Lucas	Montreal, Canada	WIN TKO - 6
16/08/2003	Markus Beyer	Nurburgring, Germany	LOSS DQ - 5
02/06/2003	Jason Delisle	Penrith, Australia	WIN KO - 5
15/03/2003	Jorge Andres Sclarandi	Perth, Australia	WIN TKO - 6
09/01/2003	Bradley Mayo	Melbourne, Australia	WIN TKO - 1
09/11/2002	Nico Toriri	Perth, Australia	WIN KO - 3
27/09/2002	Paula Tuilau	Sydney, Australia	WIN KO - 2
02/08/2002	Joel Bourke	Sydney, Australia	WIN KO - 4
18/05/2002	Rhon Roberts	Las Vegas, USA	WIN KO - 3
19/04/2002	Paul Smallman	Sydney, Australia	WIN KO - 8
09/04/2002	Iobe Ledua	Sydney, Australia	WIN KO - 2
07/12/2001	Daniel Tai	Sydney, Australia	WIN TKO - 6
16/11/2001	Eni Latu	Sydney, Australia	WIN TKO - 3
26/10/2001	Heath Stenton	Sydney, Australia	WIN TKO - 2
19/10/2001	Jason Rarere	Sydney, Australia	WIN KO - 2
28/09/2001	Manueli Delatabua	Sydney, Australia	WIN TKO - 2
03/08/2001	Frank Ciampa	Sydney, Australia	WIN TKO - 2
29/06/2001	Waga Kolivuso	Sydney, Australia	WIN KO - 2

World titles

New title	WBC Super Middleweight Champion Interim title 20 December 2003 - 12 March 2005	Lost bid for undisputed WBC title
Preceded by Stipe Drews	WBA Light Heavyweight Champion 16 December 2007 – 25 March 2008 Retired	Succeeded by Hugo Hernan Garay
Titles in pretence
Vacant Title last held by Jonathon Banks	World Cruiserweight Champion IBO Recognition 15 August 2009 - 20 July 2011	Succeeded by Antonio Tarver

Documentary

In 2006 a documentary called The Fight Game was released based on Green. It covers the triumph and tragedy of the first four years of his professional boxing career. Also an interview/documentary with Green in 2008 after his retirement called Closed Fists, Open Heart which covers his entire boxing career up to his retirement.

Dancing With The Stars

Green was a contestant on the 2008 season of the Australian version of Dancing With the Stars. On November 9, 2008, Green and partner Natalie Lowe finished second to actor Luke Jacobz and his partner Luda Kroitor.

References

1. ^ Fox Sports News Article
2. ^ The Australian News Article
3. ^ 15 Rounds Article [1]
4. ^ The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)
5. ^ http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,27442522-5009280,00.html
6. ^ http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,27442522-5009280,00.html
7. ^ http://www.smh.com.au/sport/boxing/hes-a-dog-and-hes-not-getting-paid-20100722-10li4.html?autostart=1

External links

• Professional boxing record for Danny Green from BoxRec
• The Official Web Site Of Danny Green
• Danny Green Photo Gallery

Persondata
Name	Green, Danny
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	9 March 1973
Place of birth	Perth, Western Australia
Date of death
Place of death