Mosley withdraws from Mundine fight
Shane Mosley (47-8-1) has withdrawn from his scheduled fight with Anthony Mundine (44-5) due to a contract dispute.
The veteran American was scheduled to face the Australian former world middleweight champion in Sydney on Wednesday.
But Mosley was not paid the remainder of his $1m purse by Monday evening's deadline, and he has now flown back to Los Angeles after pulling out just hours before the weigh-in.
"I'm very disappointed with this turn of events because I was planning on making a big statement by beating Mundine, but I was left with no choice but to withdraw," said Mosley in a statement.
Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer confirmed that Mosley was left with no choice but to pull out after the money due to him under the terms of his contract had not been paid.
A devastated Mundine was hoping to secure a lucrative world title fight in the United States after losing an IBF world middleweight belt to compatriot Daniel Geale in January.
"I lay no blame on Mosley. He is just a fighter himself and he just wants to make sure he gets paid," Mundine said.
His manager Khoder Nasser announced that he and Mundine would now head to the United States for negotiations to re-schedule the bout with Mosley.
"We will do all we can to try and bring this promotion back to life in our hands, and we're already in talks with Golden Boy Promotions," Nasser said.
"Anthony is devastated and has waited all his career to fight someone of this stature and someone who has been in the mix with the best fighters over the last five years."
Mosley, a five-time world champion over three divisions, announced his retirement after being beaten on points by light-middleweight champion Saul Alvarez in June last year.
But the 42-year-old returned to the ring in May and scored a unanimous points victory over Pablo Cesar Cano in Mexico to win the vacant WBC international welterweight title.