By Jacquelin Magnay
ANTHONY Mundine is sweating, but he doesn't know it. Arms held high, punching the air with light weights against an invisible opponent, his legs stride intently against the force of water.
Barking into his ear is Dick Caine, also in the water. Caine won't let Mundine slacken, even when his muscles are screaming with fatigue from a final eight-round sparring session the night before.
Yesterday morning, the 31-year-old was training with Caine at Carss Park pool, one of his last intense sessions before the Sam Soliman WBA super-middleweight title fight at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on March 7. Mundine will now rest as much as he can, exercising only if he needs to make the weight.
Many champions from various sports have shared the chlorine at Carss Park: Michelle Ford, Michellie Jones, Susie Maroney, Lance Thompson.
Yet Mundine, with his boundless energy, slots in easily. He has been part of the furniture for 16 years, every since he was 15 and a wide-eyed kid keen for a rugby league contract with St George Dragons.
Back then Mundine didn't know how to swim and was afraid of the water. Caine said within three weeks of asking for help, he was swimming eight laps non-stop. He has been going to the pool two to three times a week for water training, weight sessions and Caine's life lessons ever since.
The coach and pupil are great friends; an unlikely pairing of the straight-talking, no-fuss Caine who won't stand for any histrionics, and the rap-singing Mundine, who attracts headlines and controversy. In the quieter days leading up to a fight Mundine can often be found on Caine's doorstep, chewing the fat over anything but boxing, taking refuge amid the familiar faces and surroundings; knowing if he asks a question he will get a direct answer, not the sugar-coated responses from some of his hangers-on.
Says Mundine: "Dick is a firm believer in his methods, he is on my back all the time, he wants results … it is hard, but it breaks my training up, getting into the water is healthy and the workout helps the recovery of my muscles at the same time.
"Dick is a good friend and a mate, he is more than a trainer, he is a mentor in a way, he guides me in the right direction and I can see why he has a lot of kids at his beck and call. He is like one of the characters in a Rocky movie, he says all these little quotes when I am training really hard and doing it tough so I can get through it."
And Caine, who admits Mundine "is a pain in the arse and I want to give him a swift kick sometimes", is in turn complimentary about Mundine's loyal character, and says people shouldn't judge him by the headlines. People don't see Mundine turning up at the pool to chat to wayward youths or donating his time for charitable causes. He says Mundine's greatest asset is his father Tony.
"He is just a puppy dog who wants to play and be everyone's friend, but he is also a tiger," says Caine. "He is the first to help out and, around here, he is just Anthony. There is no red carpet, he is not up himself, he will go over and help a 60-year-old woman doing some weights. There is no arrogance whatsoever - he is just in with the kids. But he listens, and apart from that his biggest asset in his life is his dad because Anthony knows that he is someone who cares about him and is not just interested in the dollars."