Danny Green

Daniel Thomas Green (born 9 March 1973) is a former Australian professional boxer.

Green was awarded a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport in 1998, and won a bronze medal at the Liverpool International Boxing Tournament in the same year.

He was selected for the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, however he broke his hand and was unable to vie for medals.

At the 2000 Australian National titles in Broadbeach, Green lost a "furious contest" against Victorian Nathan Woodham (a boxer he would go on to beat twice in his professional career).

In the final Olympic trial in Canberra, Jason DeLisle was eliminated by a Tongan fighter, and Green "tore through the field" to qualify for the boxing at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Green fought in the 81 kg division at the Olympic Games, and beat the Brazilian Laudelino Barros with a "referee stopped contest" decision in the fourth round of his first bout.

In his second bout, Green was defeated by the Russian Alexander Lebziak – also by a "referee stopped contest" decision in the fourth round.

Green broke his hand fighting Lebziak (who went on to claim the gold medal in the event).

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.

The rivalry between Green and Australian boxer Anthony Mundine dated back to the early 2000s and by 2005 that rivalry had "escalated into a bitter feud".

Green won his first professional bout by a second-round technical knockout over Waqa Kolivuso in Sydney on 29 June 2001.

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$30000.

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.

Green has employed the training services of: former world champion Jeff Fenech, Cuban-born Ismael Salas (from mid-2005), and Angelo Hyder (from mid-2009) – whom Green has labelled the "best in the world".

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."

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.

As a teenager Green had tried martial arts and kickboxing, and had his first amateur boxing bout aged 20.

In a 2008 interview Green stated that his purse for the fight was A$1200.

In 2010 Green described Lebziak as his toughest opponent, stating "he was a Russian general in the military, nicknamed 'The Animal' and he had a head impervious to punishment."

"Green finished his amateur career with a record of 35 – 8 (21) and a 16 – 6 international record."

Green turned professional at age 28 and has had 33 wins from 38 fights in a professional career that has spanned eleven and a half years.

Five of his fights have been outside Australia.