Thornberry Camp throws down challenge to Mundine.
Things are obviously hotting up in the Super-Middleweight division in Australia! Hot on the heels of the Paul Briggs $100k challenge to The Man, comes an offer from the highly-credentialed Thornberry camp; their offer is a little higher though - $200,000 for Anthony to take a journey up to Brisbane to fight The Gatton Tiger. Noel Thornberry is quoted as saying "All-Sports promotions are keen to underwrite this show, but feel that Mundine will turn this one down as it would cut short a promising career".

Parr headed to the Shaky Isles
Highly-touted prospect John Wayne Parr heads to New Zealand to fight Moroni Schwalger on June 8th. Parr, who is obviously not going to wait around for Nader Hamden to return his calls will fight the notorious Samoan is is 1-0 in the pro ranks (you could actually call him 3-0 after his assaults on Arthur Tunstall and John McKay at the last Oceania's held here).

Paul Briggs to fight Makata
Time for another Hurricane warning with Briggs set to take on tough Kiwi fighter Mike Makata, Briggs is trying (unsuccessfully) to get Anthony Mundine into the ring but willl have to settle for the New Zealander at this stage, who is a good competitor and is no push over, I Believe that this fight - set for June 1 in Sydney - will see another inside the distance win for the Queensland fighter.

Aussie boxer injure in NZ
Perth boxer Patricia Devellerez sustained serious injuries in her bout with Auckland fighter Agnes Tuitama held at the Richmond Working Mens Club in Christchurch. Devellerez was put into an induced coma (a part many news reports are sure to omit), to help reduce the pressure on her brain. Patricia's fight was stopped after she collapsed whilst receiving a standing count after being knocked down earlier in the third and final round in their Trans-Tasman test series. Tricia is now out of the coma and will be monitored over a 48 hour period for further assessment

Commonwealth Title beckons Meehan
Speculation abounds that Kali "Checkmate" Meehan's (pictured right against Waisiki Ligaloa) next match, scheduled for the 25th of May at Southport RSL, could not only be for the Vacant ANBF title (which should not have been stripped from him in the first place, considering Julian Holland has managed to keep the 147 pound belt), but also for the Commonwealth Crown, which is a huge step-up the ladder for the former Kiwi bomber. A win here would be a huge boosty up the ratings (WBC especially) and would keep Nadel Hussein company as Aussies holding CBC titles. Stay tuned for more news

Tragedy hits boxing down under
The Australian Boxing community was hit hard at 10.45am on the 9th of April when the life support system sustaining Boxing's greatest gentleman was switched off. Ahmad Popal had not regained conciousness after suffering injuries in his bout with Tony Pappa. A report of the fight can be found here. Of course there are renewed calls for banning boxing. My point would be: ban all sports where people die or sustain serious injuries. No politicians called for the banning of motor racing after the death of the steward at the Australian Grand Prix and Rugby League escaped unharmed when Adam Ritson suffered terrible head injuries in yet another head-high tackle, leaving him a shadow of his former self. Now I am not belittling the tragedy that has struck, I am just trying to point out that boxing is one of the safer sports around but some people have a moral rather than safety issue of our sport. In the two rugby codes, I have time and again seen players concussed be doused in water and sent back out to carry on! In boxing, that man or woman would not be able to fight or spar for 1 month!! (that also is for the doctor to decide; he can make it longer)
We have lost Ahmad, we cannot bring him back, but he went doing something he loved, if only we will all be that lucky when our time comes.

Queensland firing on all cylinders
Apart from the big show at Carrara on the 16th of April featuring The Man Vs Timo Masua, My sources tell me we in Queensland have quite a few mouth-watering shows coming up in the next month or so. On the 24th of April, following hot on the heels of Mundine, Rick Thornberry fights the Shaky Isles' Jason Rarere in a ten-rounder at the Greek Club in Brisbane. Down in Coolongatta on the 27th Jamie Myer presents another of his excellent shows when in the main event Zane "Bam Bam" Aiken takes on former kick-boxer Nathan Briggs (brother of high-flying Paul). Rumours suggest that everyone who has ever had a beer with Zane will be at the fight - if this is the case they might want to switch venues to the home of the Brisbane Broncoes ANZ Stadium :o) (Zane has probably had a beer with them at some stage!). Seriously, it is good to see Zane in the ring as he is a talented fighter. The last event I have heard of is in May but apparently still to be confirmed when Mark Ericssen puts together another of his excellent shows on the 25th at Southport RSL, this is a Fox Sport show so inter-staters will be able to check out this show too. If in the area (or even just the state!) get down and support the promoters, have a cold one or ten and cheer on your favourite fighter

Aussie title set to be decided
The vacant ANBF Super-Welterweight crown will soon have a holder when Sam Setu meets Steve Douet on the Jeff Fenech promotion set for The La Montage in Leichardt, Sydney on the 20th of April. Setu has already beaten Douet once, but we all know anything can happen in this sport. Also Nader Hamden takes on Julian Holland KO victim Singdam Vacharin from Thailand. Also featured on the card are Peter Mitrevski Jr, Andrily Kuhmala and pro-debutant Vikhtang Darchinian. So head on down to Leichardt and see some top pros in action