ANTHONY Mundine is a two-time boxing world champion but it’s clear he’s still bitter about the circumstances that led to him retiring from rugby league.

Mundine retired from rugby league in 2000 after a successful career in which he played 116 games for the Dragons in two stints either side of 11 matches for the Brisbane Broncos.

But it was his lack of recognition at representative level that truly stung the flashy playmaker, being selected for only three State of Origin games for the NSW Blues in 1999.

“I talked out from the get go because they’d never given me my props in league,” Mundine told Fox Sports News 500. “They’d never give me my props. I whipped (Laurie) Daley, I whipped (Brad) Fittler. Continuously. Not one time, two times, three times, four, five. I’m talking five years. Over five years straight.

Anthony Mundine tackles Brad Fittler in 2000. Source: News Corp Australia

“It cut me deep, man. They had to pick me in the State of Origin and then they messed me around; playing me off the bench, playing me in positions I’d never played before — in the forwards, in the hooking role.

“When I left in 1999, early 2000, at the end of ‘99 they took a team to England. They don’t pick one squad, they pick two squads, like 42 players to go — and I wasn’t even part of that. “And I was the best statistically that year. We made the grand final and I whipped what they called the best in Brad Fittler all year. And my statistics were second to none. That’s why I left.

“It just bothers me, man. I just hope it changes. I just hope it changes for the next generation to come. It just ain’t fair. No equality, man.”

Mundine believed at the time, and presumably still does, that there were nefarious elements at play that conspired against him due to the colour of his skin.

Anthony Mundine with father Tony after announcing his retirement from game. Source: News Corp Australia

He revealed how he has long fed off any racist incidents during his career.

“I’m a real resilient type of guy as far as racism (goes). When I was young, I used to teach myself to turn a negative into a positive,” Mundine said. “What was negative in my world, I turn into a positive. I dealt with racism, I used that to motivate me. I used that to inspire me.

“I used that to push me. To achieve. To speak out about it. To educate the people about it. But then they think I’m being racist because I’m trying to educate the people.”

By educating people that also means straying away from sport and into the realm of Australia’s cultural signifiers, like the flag and the national anthem. Mundine has long been outspoken about the need for change to be more inclusive for the indigenous population.

“You got to start changing stuff,” he said. “I’ve said about the flag, I’ve said about the anthem. You’ got to start changing, you’ve got to start involving the indigenous and the rightful owners of the land.”

Anthony Mundine in one of his three appearances for the NSW Blues. Source: News Corp Australia

Mundine has always been a polarising figure in Australian society due to his outspokenness, but asked to define himself and a very different character comes to light.

“I’m a cool cat in the sense that I give everybody time,” he said. “I go out of my way to make sure someone else is happy, put a smile on their face. I’ve always been grounded. Even thought I made it big in my sports, as far as league and boxing. I never thought I was aloof.

“I never thought I was too good. I always stayed grounded at the grassroots level, at the people level. I was always accessible. That stuff don’t get shown, don’t get seen, I know. You don’t judge a book by its cover.”

That’s why it’s little known that Mundine has given away vast sums of his impressive fortune — as much as “two to three million” according to the man himself — but he denies his widely anticipated fight against Danny Green in February next year is due to any financial pressure.

Anthony Mundine holds up the 'The Greatest My Own Story' by Muhammad Ali. Source: News Corp Australia

“I can be cool right now to stop and retire if I wanted to. I can be cool. This is a grudge match. It’s a deep, hard-core grudge match,” Mundine said.

Mundine won their first bout back in 2006 at the Sydney Football Stadium, a result that Green put down to being overly weakened after having to strictly fast to make weight.

It’s a claim that Mundine isn’t buying.

“He has been yapping, yapping, yapping about the weight issues when he fought his whole career at super middleweight,” Mundine said. “It wasn’t an issue when he won a world title at super middleweight, it wasn’t an issue.

“He beat (Eric) Lucas, beat (Markus) Beyer, the first time, lost in a rematch but he fought his whole career at super middleweight but when we fought it was a weight problem. So I just want to eradicate any weight issue for this one. I’m going to show you why I’m called ‘The Man’.”