Australian world champion Danny Green has called on Anthony Mundine to stop fighting chumps and step up with the big boys of world boxing.
Green won the IBO cruiserweight title when he defeated Julio Cesar Dominguez in Mississippi earlier this month and will fight American superstar Roy Jones Jnr in November.
Mundine, meanwhile, is still busy frying his fish on the local scene and is currently eyeing off a middleweight rematch with Tasmanian Danny Geale.
Green said it was time his arch rival stepped out of his comfort zone.
“I’m not sure what his next fight is, I dare say it would be against someone that is going to be a relatively very safe option for him,” Green said during a visit to Perth Glory training on Thursday.
“It’s pretty much a pattern now.”
Green was lured out of retirement earlier this year after he was promised a lucrative rematch with Mundine, who won the first fight between the pair in 2006.
But when it came to finalising a deal Mundine quickly went cold on the proposal, although Green’s recent success on the world stage seems to have re-sparked Mundine’s interest.
“If Greeny has still got that cruiserweight after Roy Jones, he knows where I’m at,” Mundine told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.
Green said he had little time nowadays to even think about Mundine.
“I’m fighting one of the best fighters of all time so Choco’s definitely on the backburner as far as our fight goes,” Green said.
“As far as what he achieved and what he’s going to achieve and what he wants to achieve, he’s just got to step up basically.
“He’s got to stop fighting blokes that are a given and put himself out of his comfort zone.
“Until he does that he’s not going to have the respect of the sporting community.”
Green said negotiations to secure the Jones Jnr fight were proving tricky.
“It’s never easy,” he said.
“Boxing’s got a lot of grey areas involved.
“Roy’s not the easiest bloke to deal with because he sees this as basically a big opportunity financially but it’s a risky fight as well so he’s weighing up all his options.
“He’s trying to make as much money as he can because if he potentially loses the fight, then his worth drops.
“It’s always tough but he’s done his part of the deal and I’ve done my part in the ring, now it’s just a matter of finalising negotiations and tying up the loose ends and knuckling down.”
Green said he was disappointed he couldn’t bring the fight to his hometown of Perth, with the bout likely to take place in either Sydney or Melbourne.
– AAP