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Anthony Mundine v Danny Green II: why it's about 'clarity'

ADELAIDE, Australia -- John Howard was Prime Minister of Australia, Rihanna had her first No.1 with SOS and the first iPhone was still more than seven months away from release - it was 2006, the same year Anthony Mundine beat Danny Green at the Sydney Football Stadium.

It was May 17, to be exact, as 30,000 fans piled into the Sydney Football Stadium, and thousands more descended on the pubs and clubs across Australia to see the former NRL player emerge victorious in a unanimous points decision.

More than 10 years on, Mundine and Green are set to do it again this time in Adelaide. The big question is: why has it taken so long? And can the two 40-somethings put on a show worthy of the attention?

"Believe me, I've still got it, I've still got," Mundine said at the pre-fight press conference on Wednesday.

"I've still got one last dance in me, baby. And I'm sure Danny has, too. I mean he's a very fierce competitor; he's a winner, he wants to win and you're gonna see two bulls go at it.

"I'm gonna be like the matador at times and I know I'm gonna have to fight at times. But I'm not only just a boxer, I can fight. I can fight when I need to fight.

"So it's going to be a great spectacle, man. I'm not sure why it didn't happen after our first fight, if we had the rematch clause or whatever. I went on to fight Mikkel Kessler, and went down and down in weight later on; he went up in weight. So we just went different paths.

"But I think we both need this fight as far as clarity, because ever since the first fight he's been talking about the weight. But he fought his whole career at that weight, at super middleweight, he won the world title at super middleweight and then when I fought him it was a problem. So now I'm jumping up 13 kilos, baby."

For Green, it is the ultimate shot at redemption. And owning the bigger frame, the step up in weight division certainly plays to his strength: power.

Having fought at between 73 and 76 kilos last time around, Green can have as much as 83 kilos on board at Thursday's weigh-in and then can put on us as much as he feels necessary until the first bell rings on Friday night.

"I'm just happy, I'm just looking forward to getting the job done," Green said Wednesday.

"We've had a helluva rivalry. Choc's Choc, I'm me; I'm different, he's different; we're different to each other. And people don't like Choc and people don't like me. And that's what makes this fight, I guess, exciting.

"We've put ourselves in this position, we're here because of what we've done in our careers and since we first fought 10 years ago, over 10 years ago, I think my career went in a different path and he chose to go in a different path. So we both chose to go in different directions and the time's come to meet [again]. I'm just glad that we've finally agreed to do it.

"I can't wait to get on, to get out on the Oval; I was running around there last night, it looks crazy. It's gonna be bananas and I'm gonna get out there and do my job."

As things stood at Wednesday's press conference, there were still "good tickets" available for the bout while people were warned to purchase their Main Event subscriptions ahead of time to avoid the "final rush".

Green is already on record as saying this will be his final fight while Mundine said it was "more than likely" his boxing swansong, too.

But as is well known in the fight game, the last time isn't always the last time. Especially when clarity is involved.

Join our Live and Interactive blog of the entire card on Friday evening featuring world No. 10-light-heavyweight Trent Broadhurst, Commonwealth Games gold medallist Andrew Moloney, unbeaten in 11 pro fights, Kostya Tszyu's son, Tim, who won his professional debut last month, and Wallabies rugby star Quade Cooper, who has won his only two pro fights.

Watch the card Live and Exclusive on Main Event from 7pm AEDT.