Muslim Loses WBC Ranking

Australian super-middleweight Anthony Mundine was dropped indefinitely from the World Boxing Council’s rankings Wednesday for his controversial remarks about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Mundine, a Muslim, said Monday that the United States had brought the attacks upon itself.

He later apologized on his Web site.

“The World Boxing Council read with stupefaction the statements [made by Mundine],” Jose Sulaiman, the sanctioning body’s president, said in a statement. “The WBC will not tolerate the utilization of a position in boxing to make such absurd and denigrating public statements.”

Mundine told Channel Nine television in Australia that the attacks were caused partly because of religion and questioned if they were an act of terrorism.

Mundine, a former rugby player ranked 26th by the WBC, is scheduled to fight International Boxing Federation super-middleweight champion Sven Ottke in Dortmund, Germany, on Dec. 1.