Puncher from the Past Tony Mundine

Name: Anthony William (Tony) Mundine

Born: 9 June 1951

Career: 1969 to 1984

Record: 96 fights, 80 wins (64 by KO/TKO), 15 Losses (10 by KO/TKO), 1 Draw.

Division: Middleweight, light heavyweight, cruiserweight, heavyweight

Stance: Orthodox

Titles:  Australian middleweight, light heavyweight, Cruiser and heavyweight, Commonwealth middleweight and light heavyweight

Major Contests

Scored wins over: Billy Choules (Twice), Johnny Kramer, Charley Austin, Bunny Sterling, Denny Moyer,**  Juarez de Lima, Antonio Aguilar, Lonnie Harris, Matt Donovan*, Nessim Cohen*, Carlos Marks (twice), Emile Griffith**, Don Cobbs, Nate Collins, Rudy Robles*, Steve Aczel(thrice), Gary Summerhays, Monty Betham, Bunny Johnson, Hocine Tafer, Mustafa Wasajja*,

Lost against: Kahu Mahanga, Luis Manuel Rodriguez**, Bennie Briscoe*, Carlos Monzon**, Jesses Burnett (twice)*, James Marshall, Dave Lee Royster, Mate Parlov**, Yaqui Lopez*, Murray Sutherland, Rufino Angulo, Alex Sua.

Drew with: Bunny Sterling

**Past/ future holder of a version of a world title

* Unsuccessful challenger for a version of a world title

Tony Mundine’s Story

Mundine was born on 6 June 1951 Yulgibar (Baryulgil), New South Wales Australia. It was an Aborigine town offering little in the way of facilities or opportunities for the locals other than the asbestos mines. Mundine sought his way out through sport. He was an excellent Rugby League player  and also did well at boxing. Mundine was playing for a local Rugby League team and was offered a chance to play for the prestigious Redfern Rugby League team. During the off season Mundine trained at a local boxing gym and just three months before his 17 th birthday chose to follow a career in boxing instead of Rugby League. He had his first professional fight on 5 March 1969 three months before his 18^th birthday and five weeks later had his first ten round fight.

In his fight against Ray Whaeatley in May 1959 Mundine was knocked down in the first round by a right but got up to kayo Wheatley in the second round. That was the only time in Mundine’s long career he would be knocked down by another Australian and he would never lose to another Australian.

His aggressive hard-punching style quickly made him a big favourite with the fans in Sydney and by October he had won nine in a row.

The first sign of a cloud on the horizon came in his eleventh fight against New Zealander Kaho Mahanga in November 1969. Mahanga, a fighter with a modest 14-5 record, knocked Mundine out in the ninth round. Mundine’s suspect chin and an aggressive style that left him open to counters would haunt him throughout his career but he rebounded with two inside the distance wins in December with the bounced-back also to be a feature of his career.

He won his first title, the Australian middleweight, with a kayo of Billy Choules in  April 1970 and in January 1971 fought a draw with Britain’s Bunny Sterling in a challenge for the Commonwealth middleweight title. The only draw in Mundine’s 96 fight career. By April 1971 Mundine had built his record to 22-1-1 with 18 wins by KO/TKO.

In April he faced his first former world champion in Cuban great Luis Manuel Rodriguez. The former WBA/WBC champion had 113 fights behind him and was past his best but again Mundine’s chin was exposed as Rodriguez knocked him out in 52 seconds of the first round.

Again Mundine bounced back with six inside the distance wins in the year and in 1972 he jumped past the light heavyweight division (there were no super middleweights or cruiserweights then) and stopped champion Foster Bibron to win the Australian heavyweight title. Bibron weighed 210 ¼ lbs and Mundine 164 ¼ so he was conceding 46 lbs.

He followed that in April 1972 knocking out Bunny Sterling in the fifteenth round to win the Commonwealth middleweight title and scored wins over experienced fighters such as former light middleweight champion Denny Moyer, Juarez de Lima, Antonio Aguilar and Lonnie Harris making it an 8-0 year with all 8 wins by KO/TKO. He had another good year in 1973 winning all 7 of his fights including four defences of the Commonwealth title and wins in France over Nessim Cohen and a very faded Emile Griffith.

Mundine’s record was now 42-2-1 and he was No 1 middleweight in the Ring Magazine ratings. Instead of playing it safe in Paris in February 1974 Mundine took on the ever dangerous Bennie Briscoe and was knocked out in the fifth round. Three inside the distance wins followed and then despite the Briscoe loss Mundine was given the chance to challenge Carlos Monzon for the WBA title in Buenos Aires on 10 October 1974.

Monzon knocked Mundine out in the seventh round but for the first four round Mundine had taken the fight to Mundine going punch-for-punch and shaking off some thunderous rights from the champion. Over the fifth and sixth Monzon started to break Mundine down with powerful jabs and heavy rights and a series of punches sent Mundine down for the count in the seventh.

This time there was no immediate bounce-back as Mundine started 1975 with a points loss against 28-2 Rudy Rob

les and a disastrous first round kayo loss to 9-3-1 Californian James Marshall in May.

After the Marshall loss Mundine then campaigned at light heavyweight and the year ended well for him as he Knocked out Steve Aczel in October to win  the Australian and Commonwealth light heavyweight titles making him a three-division Australian champion and two-division Commonwealth champion.

He made two defences of his Commonwealth light heavyweight title and then came another set-back in the shape of a sixth round kayo defeat against Jesses Burnett.

The pattern was replicated over 1976 and 1977 as he defended the Commonwealth title twice more and was then kayoed in the first round by 11-8-2 American Lee Royster in July 1977.

He beat Royston on points in a return and then regained the Australian heavyweight title. He had not defended the title after winning in 1972 but in June 1977 stopped reigning champion Maile Haumona in a non-title fight and in December 1977 Mundine knocked out Haumona in three rounds to win the vacant title.

Mundine lost the Commonwealth light heavyweight title on an eleventh round kayo against Canadian Gary Summerhays in February 1978 and was filling-in time with a series of relatively low level  fights before getting another chance to launch a challenge for a world title but in September 1979 lost on points against Croatia’s Mate Parlov in a WBC cruiserweight eliminator.

He had a series of fights in Italy and beat Steve Aczel in an Australian heavyweight title defence and in December 1980 beat useful New Zealander Monty Betham for the vacant Australasian light heavyweight title but was beaten on points  in a return fight with Jesse Burnett in March 1981. Other bouts in 1981 saw him win over respected Bunny Johnson and in what must be a unique occurrence again beat Steve Aczel. With the cruiserweight division now in place and both being under the light heavyweight division limit the fight was for the Australian light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight titles so three national titles in three different divisions on the line. He ended 1981 with s third round stoppage defeat against Yaqui Lopez 2001.

In 1982 it looked as though a re-born Mundine was again on the title trail as he beat two world rated fighters in 29-1-1 Hocine Tafer and 24-1-1 Mustafa Waswajja but a wide unanimous decision loss against Murray Sutherland in September 1982 binned those hopes and Mundine’s career faded away in losses against Rufino Angulo and Alex Sua.

Mundine was far from finished with boxing. He opened a gym which whilst initially aimed to help fellow indigenous boxers  became popular with all boxers. He became a very active promoter putting on 38 shows between 2001 and 2018. He  trained his son Anthony who achieved what his father failed to do. Anthony  was twice a holder of the secondary WBA super middleweight title and the IBO middleweight title and like dad competed in multi-weight divisions ranging from super welterweight to cruiserweight. Both Anthony and Tony’s older brother Mickey played rugby league with Anthony spending seven years playing at the highest level before turning to boxing and Mickey played in the  first ever all-Indigenous rugby league team.

Whilst never winning a world title Mundine remains the only Australian to win the national title in four divisions and was Commonwealth champion across three divisions being 11-1-1 in Commonwealth title fights.

On 26 January 1986 Mundine was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for “service to sport particularly to boxing and to aboriginal youth”. He was the winner of The Ella Award for Lifetime Achievement in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sport in 2004 and in 2005 was inductee in the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame.