Mundine Makes US Debut Against McKart In Las Vegas

Three-time world champion Anthony “The Man” Mundine (43-4, 25 KOs) makes his United States debut Saturday night (July 14), headlining the “When Worlds Collide” pay-per-view event, live from Pearl Theater at Palms Resort Casino in Las Vegas.

Mundine takes on tough veteran Bronco “Superman” McKart (54-9-1, 32 KOs), a two-time world champion, in the 10-round main event for the vacant IBF North American Middleweight Championship.

The WealthTV PPV co-feature matches a pair of world-rated light heavyweights, Russian invader Dmitry Surkhotsky (18-1, 13 KOs) and Cornelius “Da Beast” White (19-1, 16 KOs), in a entertaining 12-round bout for the vacant IBF International title.

The Mundine vs. McKart fight started from a simple question asked earlier this year, in-house by WealthTV’s boxing staff, regarding a viable opponent who could defeat Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

“After much debate with boxing experts and insiders,” explained Charles Herring, president of WealthTV, “Mundine’s name kept coming up. In late March, we aggressively pursued the WBA purse bid for the Mundine vs. Trout fight. Our representative went to Panama City with a substantial check in hand but the bid never went through.

“Our second attempt, however, was successful and we’re pleased to be the network that is bringing this three-time world champion to the boxing capital of the world, Las Vegas, for his United States boxing debut.

“Mundine has to get past a highly-skilled boxer and proven veteran, Bronco McKart, before he starts thinking about a fight with Mayweather. McKart’s in the best shape of his life and ready to take on Mundine. McKart’s skills and legendary work ethic are quite impressive and we believe this has all the makings to be a Fight of the Year candidate. It’s going to be war in the ring Saturday night as both fighters try to make strong statements.”

Demonstrating its commitment to becoming a powerhouse in world-class, live professional boxing, the Mundine vs. McKart card represents WealthTV’s fifth major live boxing event in the last nine months and its first pay-per-view event in the U.S.

“We’re committed to providing top quality championship boxing to our viewers,” WealthTV CEO Robert Herring commented. “We’ll air exciting cards live on the network for free, yet when the purses get too large, we’ll feature pay-per-view events. Our staff is quickly gaining boxing expertise and is focused on showcasing a major boxing event about once a month.”

Fighting out of his native Australia, Mundine first captured the World Boxing Association 168-pound title in 2003, taking a unanimous 12-round decision from Antwun Echols. The dangerous Australian recaptured the WBA super middleweight title in 2007, stopping in-country rival Sam Soliman in the ninth round. In his last fight on October 19, 2011, Mundine became the Interim WBA light middleweight champion by way of a 12-round unanimous decision over Rigoberto Alvarez.

Mundine’s impressive resume includes victories against other even more notable opponents such as bitter arch-rival Danny Green, a former WBA light heavyweight champion, and current IBF middleweight world title-holder Daniel Geale. Three of Mundine’s four career losses have been to world champions Mikkel Kessler, Manny Siaca and Sven Ottke.

McKart, fighting out of Munroe, Illinois, won the WBO middleweight crown in 1996, registering a ninth-round technical knockout of Santos Cardona. McKart added the IBA title belt to his collection in 1997. The battle-tested McKart has defeated world champions Raul Marquez and Aaron Davis, as well as world title challengers Enrique Ornelas and Alex Bunema during the course of his 20-year professional career.

Bronco “Superman” McKart

Sukhotsky lost his only world title shot to WBO champion Juergen Braehmer by decision in 2009. The rugged Russian and former European 175-pound champion has battled his way back to the top of the world ratings at No. 3 in the WBO, No. 5 in the WBA and No. 12 in the IBF.

White, rated No. 11 by the World Boxing Council (WBC), has relocated in Houston from Chicago to work with his highly-respected head trainer, Ronnie Shields. White’s most impressive win to date was a 2011 decision over 2004 Cuban Olympian Yordanis Despaigne.

The “When Worlds Collide” PPV, presented by Millennium Events, Inc. in association with WealthTV, for live viewing at 9:00 PM/ET – 6:00 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via Comcast, Time Warner Cable, AT&T U-Verse, Cox Communications, Verizon FiOS TV, Charter Communications, DirecTV, and many other carriers for a suggested retail price of only $29.95.