By Aus-Boxing.com

DANNY Green and Anthony Mundine may be sworn rivals, but that doesn’t mean they don’t respect each other.

Green’s long-time trainer Angelo Hyder has heaped praise on the athletic ability of Mundine (47-7, 27 KOs) ahead of their highly anticipated rematch at Adelaide Oval next month.

In a recent interview with Shannon Brenton on his Caravan Conversations podcast, Hyder admitted that the move up to an agreed 83 kilogram catchweight should prove to be beneficial for the 42-year-old Mundine, who had previously campaigned as low as light middleweight.

“I know that coming up in weight, Choc is going to be a lot more dangerous,” said Hyder. “That bloke has incredible discipline to even do what he attempted. From my angle, I don’t think it was smart at all, but (he has) incredible discipline and respect to be able to do it at all.”

“He (Mundine) is one of those blokes that you put with Roy Jones, Pacquiao and Mayweather. These blokes have got God given gifts, these are special breeds of people.”

Hyder, who is also known for his work with multiple division world champion Vic Darchinyan and long-time WBA featherweight titleholder Chris John, went as far as to say that Mundine would have achieved equal success in any sport he decided to pursue.

“Mundine could’ve been anything,” he added. “If his dad was an athletics minded bloke, Mundine would’ve ran for Australia. If he was a basketballer, Mundine would’ve played basketball in America.”

“They said he could’ve gone on and played for the Sydney Kings if he didn’t want to box, that’s a fact.”

While the fight itself does not need to built given the enormity of both the event and its participants, Hyder was the first to acknowledge the difficulties involved with securing the lucrative rematch. When probed on his reasoning, the well-travelled boxing entrepreneur cited weight as the biggest hurdle.

“As a trainer, I never thought it (the rematch) would happen because of the weight difference,” he explained. “Choc had to get beat badly at that weight – like he did – to realise that he is so weak at that weight and that his resistance was gone at that weight. I’ve seen it time and time again.”

“He’ll be much better and have stronger resistance at that weight, it’s a close fight at that weight. I’ve got to be completely on the ball when they fight again and I’ve always respected him as an unbelievable athlete and for what he has done as a boxer.”

“The only thing that lets him down to the general public, is what makes him money, he makes money out of controversy. People dislike him because of that, but no one can knock him for what he has done.”

The motivation for trainer and fighter is relatively simple. As the likeable Hyder acknowledges, Green is driven by revenge, which alone makes him a dangerous proposition for any fighter.

“Mundine has got one up on him, and Greeny hates the fact that anyone has one up on him,” he concluded. “And because of that, Greeny wants to belt him badly cause that would be burning him everyday. That makes for a great fight.”