Third Time Lucky for Danny Green?

It was the 16 of August, 2003 and the stage was set for Danny Green to win his first world title. Everything was going according to plan. The hard punching pressure fighter from Perth, Australia had travelled to Nuerburgring Racetrack in Nuremberg, Germany to fight WBC Super Middleweight Champion Markus Beyer.

Beyer’s record standing at 27 wins and only loss to a British fighter by the name of Glenn Catley. And Danny Green with a record of 16 wins and no losses, with all wins coming by the way of knockout. Already it wasn’t looking very good for Beyer.

Beyer was seen to be the weaker of all other super middleweight champions. He was not known for having knockout power or exceptional boxing ability. He was a southpaw and was going to have to face a man with a powerhouse right hand, a southpaw’s weakness.With only a step to the left, a straight right could be unleashed straight down the middle of the southpaw’s guard. Saying that, it goes both ways.

A southpaw would only have to move to the right and would have the same opportunity. But in the case, it was more so in the favour for Green. Green had shown tremendous power against all opponents he had faced, out of 16 fighters, none of them could last the distance. But this would be a step up for Green, he wasn’t facing a club fighter.

It was the first round and Green was looking for his right hand. Closing the distance fast, Green was looking to make Beyer feel his power early on. For most of the round, nothing of significance landed for either fighter. Just as the round looked to be winding down, Beyer was caught with a right hand and was put down.

At this moment, all Australian boxing fans who had left their warm beds early to see this fight were jumping up and down with excitement. Could this be? Could Green really win a world title in one round? Unfortunately for Green, Beyer was able to get up before the 10 count. The crowd had been silenced, their champion had already been forced to taste the canvas and it had only been three minutes.

The second round was much the same and yet again, Green managed to hit another big right hand and Beyer fell one more time. A world champion for Australia looked to be on the cards. Yet again Beyer got up. Green tried to end the fight but Beyer proved to be one crafty champion and managed to box himself out of a potential disaster.

Green was deducted a point for an accidental headbutt in this round and a cut had appeared on Beyer’s right eye. Controversy had now reared its ugly head. Controversy was one thing boxing fan’s hate. The referee of the bout, Bill Clancy declared the cut had been caused by the headbutt. But slow motion replay’s suggest the cut was, in fact, caused by a punch.

Green continued to look for the right hand, but it was no longer landing and Beyer seemed to be finding form. In the fifth round, Green’s hope for a world title win were blown away when Clancy declared Green had intentionally worsened Beyer’s cut with another headbutt. The bout was halted, and confusion filled the air.

If a bout is stopped after the fourth round because of a cut caused by an accidental headbutt, then the bout is supposed to be decided by the current scores on the judges cards. In this case, it was looking to be more likely a Green victory. But after much arguing between Green’s trainer the former champion Jeff Fenech, and Beyer’s camp, a conclusion was made that would haunt Danny Green.

As it was declared a intentional headbutt, there would be no score cards. It would be a plain and simple disqualification win for Markus Beyer. Green’s camp could not believe what had just unfolded in front of them. Germany’s reputation of unfair tactics had not improved with this fight.

It would be back to the drawing board for Green, who would then go on in December, 2003 to win the interim WBC Super Middleweight title by beating Eric Lucas, as Beyer had been injured and could not fight. This would now leave Danny Green with the security of knowing that he would get another shot at the man who had given him his first loss. But before Green would get his second shot at Beyer, he would defend his title twice.

Once against New Zealand journeyman Sean Sullivan, who had given Australian rival Anthony Mundine a tough fight and the second against Omar Eduardo Gonzalez. The Sullivan fight should have been an easy fight for Green, well, that was everyone thought. People who thought this had not been giving Sullivan his credit.

Sullivan was a tough chinned fighter who had only been stopped once early on in his career and possessed great stamina. Green threw bombs all night but could not put the tough Kiwi on the canvas. The weather was so hot, both fighters were sweating profusely and Green looked to be getting exhausted.

The fight managed to go the distance, the whole 10 rounds in 40 degree Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) heat. Green shocked his hometown crowd when he announced that he had been beaten before the score cards had been revealed. Green had been so dehydrated that he could not think straight. He had clearly beaten Sullivan, but was now announcing that he wanted a rematch to redeem an unseen loss.

The score cards showed that Green had won by a shutout and he was taken out of the arena in an ambulance. Some fans would argue that Green would never been the same after his brain had pretty much been boiled. But he would come back and managed to dominate Gonzalez mostly. He did suffer a knockdown, but jumped straight back up and beat him on cuts in the fifth round.

Finally, Green’s much anticipated rematch with Beyer had arrived in March, 2005. Green was the heavy favourite and why wouldn’t he be? He had dominated the champion for most of the fight and was robbed of a victory. Many thought that Beyer would be lucky to survive five rounds this time.

Green knew he had the power to hurt Beyer, as he had shown this to the entire world. It was just a matter of would it be the same Beyer this time around?

The rematch shocked many boxing fans, not because of controversy but because Beyer handily managed to outbox the Australian. Green could not hit a clean right hand, as Beyer used a lot of movement and even managed to hurt Green. Snapping body shots and straight lefts peppered Green all night long.

Coming into the twelfth round, Green knew he had lost and that he needed a knockout. He had the power, he just needed to find one opening, just one big punch. That’s exactly what Green did; he ran into the middle of the ring and managed to catch the champ with a straight right.

The champion was now on unsteady legs. Stumbling as Green unleashed all he had left, Beyer was driven into the ropes where he would fall. Beyer was given a standing eight count as the ropes had caught him. Green yet again closed the distance and was doing all he could to finish what he had started but unfortunately for him, Beyer was tough and managed to last the round.

Two of the judges scored it for Beyer, 113-114 and 112-115 and the third scoring it a draw 114-114. Beyer had won a majority decision to retain the title. The only thing controversial in this fight was that the scores were too close, as many thought Beyer had won by a much larger margin.

Fast forwarding to the present, recently Green turned down a fight with Roy Jones conqueror Antonio Tarver in which he would get much American exposure but a meagre IBO light heavyweight title if he managed to win.

Instead, he took a fight with 6’6 WBA Light Heavyweight title holder Stipe Drews, which will take place in Green’s home town of Perth on December 16. For Drews, this will be familiar territory as Australia was where he was given his one and only loss to Green’s countryman Paul Briggs.

Green not only shares a nationality with Briggs, but also a very similar fighting style. Both are hard hitting pressure fighters, which could spell out a second loss to Drews. If there was going to be a good chance for Green to win a world title, this is it.

Also, not only is this a ticket to becoming world champion, but also a future for big pay days. A win could lure Anthony Mundine to come up in weight and give Green a chance to win a rematch, as Danny lost a lopsided decision last year. And possibly a fight with Paul Briggs, which would have fight fans foaming at the mouth as it could also be a candidate for fight of the year.

All of these are possibilities, but only that at this present time. It all comes down to Danny Green and if this will be third time lucky for his world title hopes.