By JAMIE PANDARAM, The Sydney Morning Herald
DANNY GREEN talked of his fight against Manny Siaca going the 12 rounds yesterday, but his hands tonight will likely be speaking a different language.
The mismatch in power and aggression puts Siaca at a great disadvantage, never mind his talk about dodgy home town decisions.
Green is riding the second wind of his career. Having retired for 14 months in 2008, he has returned fresher and sharper.
Green can see himself hurting Siaca at every turn. Conversely, Siaca must envisage an unlikely series of miscalculation and mistakes by Green to land the flooring blow that no other opponent has managed in the Australian's previous 31 bouts.
Siaca possesses a lengthy jab and looping right hand that has made it difficult for his opponents to get set at a comfortable distance, but he does not respond well to power.
As he showed in his seven-round loss to Mikkel Kessler, Siaca has a sturdy front-on defence but can be caught with a right hook.
Green dropped Roy Jones jnr with the right hook. Siaca may have prepared well to combat Green's hooks but like any fighter, he will revert to type when hurt. Green's aim will be to rough up the Puerto Rican early and claim the ring like a bully.
Green wants Siaca in the corners. Against Anthony Mundine, Siaca proved to be a wily customer, but he was allowed to move freely because Mundine is a stick-and-move artist. Green is less subtle.
Facing Green at cruiserweight, Siaca will be planning to test the body, a tactic that brought Markus Beyer success against Green in their super-middleweight world title rematch. Siaca is the taller man but must first play lumberjack to open Green's defence, and a rib assault is his best way of executing the two money shots against a heavy banger; the uppercut, and the overhand.
Siaca boasted of stopping Green inside two rounds, but that means he must be willing to stand and trade with the most powerful fighter he has faced. ''I don't anticipate this fight being stopped early, Manny might have other plans,'' Green said.
''I've practised for a 12-round fight for different styles. We've got a Manny for all occasions. If he goes on the back foot, if he wants to counter-punch, if he wants to come forward and be aggressive, we are ready to counter what he's going to bring.''
Green, 37, insists he has not overlooked Siaca, who has become a journeyman since his 2004 defeat of Mundine. ''I'm not really fussed with what the bookies and the people say is favourite and who's the underdog,'' Green said. ''I'm taking this as a very hard fight. I know it's going to be difficult because technically he's a gifted fighter and he's a proud guy, too.
''My job is to break this man down, my job is to defeat him, my job is to destroy him, that's his job, too.''
Because of bickering with his management, Siaca has been fairly inactive in the past five years. He has moved up and down in weight classes, which will hurt him.
Fighters can rarely be at their physical peak condition when the body is put through the trauma of losing and gaining weight rapidly, over and over.
Green is comfortable at cruiserweight, his speed has followed and his strength has grown.
When he returned from retirement, he wished for a fight against Jones jnr. Now that he has his scalp, he has bigger fish to fry than Siaca. This is an entree in anyone's language.
Source: smh.com.au
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