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Champ not deterred by impaired eye

Australian boxer Anthony Mundine weighs in at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on March 6. Mundine is determined to fight Denmark's Mikkel Kessler for the Super belt next year, the fighter said yesterday. PHOTO: AP

Dual WBA champion Anthony Mundine is "legally blind" in one eye but will still fight for the undisputed world super middleweight title next year, he said yesterday.

"I don't need two eyes to beat them," Mundine said. "I'll fight with one eye."

Mundine, 32, suffered impairment to his sight when he infected his left eye two months ago after using his tongue to clean a contact lens. He underwent surgery to remove a growth behind the eye and has since been treated with steroids and antibiotics.

"My vision is not great -- maybe 40-50 percent -- which is pretty much legally blind at the moment," Mundine said. "It's not sore but there's still a bit of cloudiness."

Mundine, who last defended his super middleweight title against Pablo Zamora Nievas of Argentina in June, said he is determined to carry on with his career.

He said his priority was to fight Denmark's Mikkel Kessler for the so-called Super belt next year.

The undefeated Kessler, who outpointed Mundine in a WBA title defense at Sydney in June 2005, is scheduled to fight unbeaten WBO champion Joe Calzhage in Cardiff on Nov. 3.

"I don't need two eyes to beat them. I'll fight with one eye."

Anthony Mundine, dual WBA champion

"I'm the only guy that's got the tools to beat Kessler, and he knows it, and hopefully I can get the fight in next year, with God's will," Mundine said.

"All I need is for my eye to be about 60 percent," he said. "If I can see a silhouette under them lights in my left eye, I feel that I can still become what I have always desired."
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