Australian boxer Anthony Mundine in 2009
Australian boxer Anthony Mundine (L) knocks down compatriot Sam Soliman (R) in the ninth round during their WBA Middleweight World Title fight in Sydney March 7, 2007. Mundine won the fight with a technical knock out in the 9th round. Reuters

Anthony Mundine of Australia could be next in line for Floyd Mayweather Jr. The 39-year-old Australian defeated Sergey Rabchenko of Belarus on Tuesday to set up a possible clash with the undefeated American as Mundine earned being the mandatory challenger for Mayweather Jr.’s World Boxing Council (WBC) World light middleweight title.

Two judges, Andrew Campbell and Malcolm Bulner scored it 115-113 and 116-112, respectively for Mundine and another judge, Fabian Guggenheim scored it 115-113 for Rabchenko (25-1-0, 18 KOs) as the Australian veteran boxer earned the split decision victory in the bout held at the Hisense Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

However, Mundine’s status in boxing at this point of his career or even before is not on par with the other big names being discussed to fight Mayweather Jr. Even with the “mandatory challenger” tag, Mundine is most likely to be snubbed by the American considering the latter has mentioned many times that 2015 will be the final year in his boxing career. As such, Mayweather Jr. likely will fight two more bouts before calling it quits and the American will most likely choose the huge money fights available— something, Mundine can not give even with a large Australian following.

Still, Mundine’s upset of Rabchenko sent shockwaves at least in Australia where he is obviously very popular. With the improbable win, Mundine gained the WBC silver light middleweight title and became the no. 1 challenger to Mayweather. Mundine showed class post-fight and credited the young Belarusian for his skills.

“He’s a young lion,” Mundine (47-6-0, 27 KOs) said via The Guardian of the previously undefeated 28-year-old opponent on Tuesday. “The man can punch and he’s probably the best body puncher I’ve ever faced. But I outboxed him.”

Mundine bounced back from a unanimous decision loss to Joshua Clottey earlier in 2014. The fighter from Ghana won via dominating scores of 116-108, 115-109 and 117-108.

Floyd Mayweather Jr., who is coming off a convincing win in the rematch with Marcos Maidana last September, has yet to announce his chosen opponents for 2015. Among the high-profile boxers considered are Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines, Amir Khan of the United Kingdom and a rematch with Canelo Alvarez of Mexico among others.

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