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Former world boxing champion Mundine mulling return to rugby

SYDNEY: Former Australian world boxing champion Anthony Mundine plans to return to his sporting roots playing rugby league following a world title bout next month.

Mundine told an Australian television interviewer he hoped to make the switch back to the game he last played in 2000 after fighting Mikel Kessler of Denmark on May 11 in Sydney. “After the fight we want to come back and play (rugby league) this season,” said Mundine, who played 33 games for St George Illawarra in 1999 and 2000.

Mundine said he would not necessarily return to St George, currently at the bottom of the National Rugby League ladder. “I want to talk to a few clubs to see where their vision’s at, to see where their dedication’s at and their desire to be the best,” he said. There were some quick expressions of interest from the NRL, with South Sydney chief executive Shane Richardson saying the Rabbitohs had room in their salary cap for 2005 to accommodate Mundine. The New Zealand Warriors also expressed a strong interest in signing Mundine.

General manager Spiro Tsiros said his club had developed a close association with Mundine, who he called “a phenomenal athlete and a fair player”. “It’s definitely something we’d have a look at,” he told the Australian Associated Press when asked if the club would sign Mundine.

Mundine, who calls himself simply “The Man”, has long been a controversial figure. An Aborigine, Mundine claimed his color had prevented him being selected for more representative play, notably for Australia’s test side, the Kangaroos, during his brief NRL career. But in announcing his return, Mundine said his goal now was to win an NRL premiership. Mundine fought for the WBA super-middleweight world title for the first time in 2001, losing to German Sven Ottke. He won the interim version of the title in 2003 over American Antwun Echols, but then lost his first defense to Puerto Rican Manny Siaca. afp

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