Anthony Mundine and Shane Mosley. Credit:Ben Rushton "The fans in Australia have welcomed me with open arms, and I hope to return to fight for them one day in better circumstances." Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer said Mosley had no other option after the remaining $700,000 of his $1 million purse for the fight was not paid as required under the terms of the contract by 5pm Monday.

"It's unfortunate that this fight will not be taking place, and we apologise to all of Shane's Australian fans, but there are contracts in place for a reason, and when the terms are not adhered to, we have no choice but to protect our fighter, and that's what happened here," Schaefer said. Warton was desperately trying to convince Mosley not to quit the fight but Australian boxing great Jeff Fenech said Mosley had already gone through Customs and would fly out to Los Angeles over the non-payment of $700,000 he was owed for the bout.

Homeward bound: Mosley with training partner Sergio Mora ready to depart Sydney Airport. Credit:From Twitter@ThreeLatinSnake Fairfax Media was told Mosley is booked in business class on an 11am Qantas flight to Los Angeles. "Shane has listened to his management, his contract wasn't fulfilled and he went home," Fenech told Sky Sports Radio. "He is managed by professional people in America and there was something that wasn't done contractually so he has been told to go home." The 42-year-old American received $300,000 of his $1 million purse for the fight before arriving in Australia three weeks ago but had been seeking the remainder of the money before getting in the ring on Wednesday night.

Fairfax Media has been told an emergency meeting was held at The Star on Monday to try and resolve the issue but when the money wasn't forthcoming by 5pm Mosley's management company Golden Boy Promotions advised him not to fight. A witness told Fairfax Media he saw a man resembling Mosley pushing a trolley into Sydney International Airport this morning, dressed in green cargo pants and wearing Nike trainers. Fenech said he had personally put up $500,000 of his own money to get Mosley to fight in Australia. ‘‘I didn’t know that in his contract there was a clause that he needed another $700,000 before the fight. I didn’t know any of that, I was just told he needed the money to be here, his down payments and a few other things,’’ Fenech said. ‘‘I have got a meeting later on in the morning with the promoter so we will see what happens. It is a little bit disappointing, especially with me putting up that money early and not knowing that more money was needed and not knowing that the promoter didn’t have the funds to facilitate what was needed.’’

Mosley’s sparring partner Sergio Mora confirmed the fight was off in a series of tweets from the airport. "FIGHT IS OFF. We came. We saw. We got misled," Mora tweeted. "Whether in the US or Australia, boxing is and always will be a ’shady’ sport. Dirty, dirty fighters in this sport.’’ ‘‘HARD WORK doesn’t always pay off in boxing. Whether it is a cancelled event or bad (crooked) judging, a boxer can squander 2’months of training without winning anything.’’ Loading

‘‘I don’t think it was Mundine. From what I saw ’n’ met. He was a cool guy. From what I heard he was prepared to fight.’’



A press conference featuring the rival boxers at the Star was cancelled without explanation on Monday. Mosley, who said in a video interview posted on Twitter on Monday he was receiving $1 million for the bout "otherwise I would be fighting Vic Ortiz for $250,000 or $200,000", also failed to turn up for a scheduled appearance with Mundine on Channel Nine's Wide World of Sports on Sunday.