{"id":331378,"date":"2023-09-15T21:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=331378"},"modified":"2023-09-16T01:01:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-16T01:01:26","slug":"get-that-killer-out-mundine-challenges-gentle-pangai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=331378","title":{"rendered":"'Get that killer out': Mundine challenges 'gentle' Pangai"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian sporting great Anthony Mundine<\/a> has implored Tevita Pangai Junior<\/a> to find a way to shed his "gentle giant" status.<\/p>\n

Mundine knows all too well what Pangai Junior is about to put himself through as he transitions from rugby league to professional boxing.<\/p>\n

Mundine was a gun for the Dragons<\/a> and Broncos<\/a> throughout the 1990s before ditching NRL<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Watch all the action from 'Battle on the Reef' on October 7.<\/strong><\/em> Available to watch via pay-per-view live and exclusively on Stan<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

His departure was motivated by a belief he was being racially oppressed after being snubbed for State of Origin<\/a> and national selection.<\/p>\n

\"Tevita<\/p>\n

Pangai doesn't have the same sort of opposing force behind him. Rather, his lack of love for the sport and desire to chase his boxing dream has seen him change tack.<\/p>\n

Mundine left with a fire in his belly. He says Pangai will need to find the same motivation.<\/p>\n

"You've gotta get that killer out of him," Mundine told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

"I don't know how you're gonna get it. You've got to find it somehow. You can't be a f—— gentle giant against these tyrannosauruses.<\/p>\n

READ MORE LINKS\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

"He's gotta be a killer, just like them \u2013 mentally. He can't knock a guy down and wanna help him up, he's gonna wanna take everything from him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"That's the boxing game. After he's won the fight then he can be apologetic or whatever.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"That's the only problem. He's got to find that within himself. He's gotta find that fire within himself and no one can do that but himself.<\/p>\n

"You've gotta find something that's gonna push him," he added.<\/p>\n

"You gotta find what moves him. It moves him in a way emotionally, mentally, physically.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"Maybe it's his son that he just had, maybe something else, maybe his brother. Something. He's got to find that 'why'. Once he finds that 'why' he'll be cool."<\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/p>\n

Exactly how will he do that? Mundine said Pangai Junior has to "dream big" and must look beyond Australia.<\/p>\n

"Obviously the first championship will be the Australian title and that was something I had done in five fights," said Mundine.<\/p>\n

"He mightn't do that that fast but I think that's the first goal. From there, regional titles. From there, look at stylistically who's the best match up, which champion has got which belt for him. That's his mentality. He's got to be, 'Who am I hunting down?'"<\/p>\n

Mundine left the NRL just before turning 25. Pangai will leave at just 27 years old.<\/p>\n

Pangai has time on his side, according to Mundine, who believes heavyweight fighters take longer to mature.\u00a0<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportAU\/status\/1694839075600277719<\/a><\/p>\n

Asked what he liked about Pangai as a boxer, Mundine explained: "For me it's easy;\u00a0 explosiveness, athleticism, natural sort of talent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"He's still got a lot more learning to do, a lot more experience and fighting to do, but it's positive.<\/p>\n

"I was 25 and heavyweights normally mature later. You're talking like mid-thirties, late-thirties. So he's got time on his side."<\/p>\n

Pangai Junior will be part of the all-star Battle on the Reef card at the Townsville Entertainment & Convention Centre on October 7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australian sporting great Anthony Mundine has implored Tevita Pangai Junior to find a way to shed his "gentle giant" status. Mundine knows all too well […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":331380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331378"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=331378"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":331383,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331378\/revisions\/331383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/331380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=331378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=331378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=331378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}