Danny Green

Daniel Green (born 9 March 1973) is an Australian professional boxer who also works as a health and fitness trainer. He held the WBA light-heavyweight title from 2007 to 2008, the IBO cruiserweight title twice between 2009 and 2013, and the WBC interim super-middleweight title from 2003 to 2005.

Early career

Following the 2000 Olympics, Green turned professional under trainer-manager Jeff Fenech, and began training at the Bankstown Police and Community Youth Club from March 2001. Green won his first professional bout by a second-round technical knockout over Waqa Kolivuso in Sydney on 29 June 2001. In a 2008 interview Green stated that his purse for the fight was A$1,200.

Green proceeded to win his first sixteen fights by knockout, eventually earning himself a title fight with Germany’s super-middleweight world champion Markus Beyer at the Nürburgring in Germany on 16 August 2003. Green floored Beyer in each of the two opening rounds and was ahead on points when the fight was stopped in the fifth by the American referee Bill Clancy – who judged Green to have intentionally head-butted his opponent. A deep cut above Beyer’s right eye meant that he could not continue with the fight, however Green’s corner claimed that the cut had been made by an earlier punch. If the cut had been made by an earlier punch, Green would have won on points at the time of stoppage, however “Senior WBC officials Enza Jacoba and Rubin Martinez produced a rule-book for Clancy that stated if an injured boxer was unable to continue because of a cut caused by an intentional head-butt, the offending boxer should be disqualified. Green stated “I should be the champion now but I’m not … It’s a disgrace”, however Beyer “derided Green’s tactics as unfair”. Green’s purse for the fight was A$30,000.

Green won an interim WBC super-middleweight title when he defeated Eric Lucas by a sixth-round knockout on 20 December 2003 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and then defeated New Zealand fighter Sean Sullivan by a unanimous decision on 21 March 2004 in Perth.

On 29 September 2004 Green survived a second-round knock-down (the first of his professional career) to beat Argentine Omar Eduardo Gonzales in Sydney. In the fifth round, a cut over Gonzales’ right eye was ruled too severe to continue, and as Green was ahead on two cards (whilst drawn on the third) he was awarded the win.

Green’s performances earned him a re-match with Beyer – who was still the reigning super-middleweight world champion. The second meeting with Beyer occurred at Zwickau in Germany on 12 March 2005. Green knew he was in trouble by the tenth round when Fenech told him “You won’t win this fight if you don’t knock him out”, and came back strongly – knocking Beyer to the canvas for a mandatory eight count in the final round. Despite the late effort, Beyer was awarded a majority points win on two of the three cards, with one judge scoring the bout as a draw. Green praised his opponent after the fight by saying “Markus Beyer was the better man tonight” and “He came back so well since the last time we fought … that is a sign of a champion. Green’s Perth-based manager Wayne Loxley said “We must move forward after tonight’s fight, … We’ll offer $2 million to bring Markus Beyer to Perth.”

Under new trainer Ismael Salas, Green met American James Crawford for his next fight on 3 July 2005 in Perth. The referee stopped the fight after Crawford had been knocked down three times in the fifth. Immediately following the fight, Green challenged Anthony Mundine, a former rugby league star who had been feuding with Green and his former trainer Jeff Fenech for many years, to step into the ring with him.

On 11 December 2005 Green fought Mexican Kirino Garcia in Perth. Green defeated Garcia with all judges giving Green every round. Kirino was only the second fighter (after Sullivan) to last the distance with Green, and Green said of his opponent “He is a hell of a tough fighter.

Later career

On 6 June 2012 Green held a press conference to announce that he would fight American Danny Santiago on 25 July 2012 in Perth.[56] Green spent the majority of the press conference discussing Anthony Mundine, and it seemed that Green planned “to drop down to the light-heavyweight division in a bid to coax Mundine into a lucrative rematch.”[56] Green stated that “it will be most probably the last time I fight in Western Australia”, and said of his opponent “Nothing soft comes out of the Bronx, and he’s a very tough guy.”[57] Green sent Santiago to the canvas three times before defeating him by a TKO in the fifth round of the July bout. Hi EmGreen remained “tight-lipped on his boxing future” and replied “I’m just going to relax and enjoy it” when asked about his plans.

Green’s most recent professional fight was a points win against Shane Cameron in Melbourne on 21 November 2012.[58] The win resulted in Green claiming the IBO world cruiserweight title (which was vacated when Antonio Tarver returned a positive drug test), the fight was first announced at the full cruiserweight limit but a catch weight was soon announced at Dannyweight of 194 pounds. Two weigh in events were held within one day, carefully planned by the Green promotion team to aid in weight draining Cameron and ensuring he was not able to re-hydrate to a decent level. Referee Pat Russell was criticized for his inability and inclination to stop Green using Rabbit punches and excessive holding.[58][59] Following the fight, Green revealed that he had fought with broken ribs as a result of a training injury received several weeks before the fight. Green conceded about 6 kg (13 lb) to Cameron (the Commonwealth champion), and said of his opponent “I’m proud I did it against a warrior and a much respected athlete.”