Background and career
Anthony Steven Mundine (born 21 May 1975) is an Australian former professional boxer and rugby league footballer. In boxing he competed from 2000 to 2021, and held the World Boxing Association (WBA) super-middleweight title twice between 2003 and 2008. He also held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) middleweight title from 2009 to 2010, and the WBA interim super-welterweight title from 2011 to 2012. Mundine is well known for his heated rivalries with fellow Australians Danny Green and Daniel Geale.
Anthony Steven Mundine is the son of former professional boxer Tony Mundine and hails from the Bundjalung people of northern coastal areas of New South Wales. Both of his parents are Aboriginal. He was raised as a Christian but converted to Islam in the late 1990s. Mundine played junior rugby league for Hurstville United and, while attending Kingsgrove High School, Mundine starred for the school in the 1993 and 1994 teams which won the University Shield both of those years. He also played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1993. That year, Mundine signed with the St. George Dragons as an eighteen-year-old. Mundine also attended Canterbury Boys' High School and Cleveland Street High School.
In 1994, Mundine represented the Junior Kangaroos, the team that beat Great Britain's under-19s in the curtain-raiser to the Australia v. France Test at Parramatta Stadium. In 1996, he played in a losing grand final, against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. That year, he was the victim of racial vilification when Rugby League player Barry Ward called Mundine a "black c- - - -". Ward was fined $10,000 for the offence. At the end of that season Mundine announced that he was signing with the Brisbane Broncos in the Super League competition. In 1997, he played 18 games for the Brisbane club, scoring three tries. He also played at centre in his second consecutive grand final, this time a victory against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in Brisbane. In 1998, he returned to St. George. Mundine was selected to play for New South Wales in each of the three matches of the 1999 State of Origin series, scoring a try in Game I on debut. That year he also assisted St. George Illawarra's run to the Grand Final, with a hat-trick against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the major semi-final. The following week the club lost to the Melbourne Storm in the 1999 NRL Grand Final during which and Mundine, playing at five-eighth knocked-on over the try line early in the second half when the score was 14–0 in favour of St. George Illawarra, which proved to be a major turning point in the match. The following year, Mundine said before the club's grand final rematch with Melbourne that Melbourne were not worthy premiers. Melbourne would hand St. George Illawarra a 70–10 defeat at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Mundine was disappointed that further representative honours did not follow, and believed that his representative opportunities did not reflect his abilities and achievements at club level. He raised the issue of racism as the main explanation for this. Mundine left rugby league halfway through the 2000 season, after being inspired to go into boxing, when a friend, Abdi Osman, showed him a video of Muhammad Ali. He later cited what he claimed was racism concerning rugby league as one of the reasons he quit to take up boxing. Mundine would later make implications during a promotion for a boxing match that former chairman of selectors and respected Aboriginal figure Arthur Beetson may have been an "Uncle Tom" who went along with the alleged racism. In 2005, Mundine was reported to be making a comeback to the NRL, but this did not eventuate. In 2007, Mundine was appointed Indigenous Liaison Officer at the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Mundine has close family ties to rugby league: he is a relative of Wes Patten, Amos Roberts, Beau Mundine, Blake Ferguson and Reece Robinson, all NRL footballers. He is also the brother-in-law of Tyran Smith who married Mundine's sister, Kellie. Mundine's son CJ Mundine is currently on the path to playing in the NRL. In September 2016, after stating on previous occasions he wanted to return to rugby league, Mundine claimed that St George chief executive Peter Doust had been in contact with him regarding his availability to play. On 8 December 2017, Mundine again declared that he desired to return to rugby league and singled out St George as the club for which he wanted to play. Mundine said in an interview with Fox Sports regarding his possible return that "It could be possible, you don't know. Anything is possible with me,". On 21 April 2019, it was announced that Mundine would make a return to rugby league and had signed with the Matraville Tigers in the South Sydney District Rugby League.
Mundine was trained by his father, Tony Mundine, who was a middleweight contender during the 1970s. Mundine fought his first professional boxing match in July 2000, at the age of 25. After a limited amateur career (he had 4 amateur fights when he was 17), his first professional fight was against New Zealander Gerrard Zohs. Only 10 professional bouts later Mundine fought for his first world title against long reigning IBF supermiddleweight champion Sven Ottke in January 2001.
In 2001, Anthony Mundine took on then Super Middleweight champion Sven Ottke for the IBF Super Middleweight belt, Mundine was ahead on points before being knocked out by a right hand to the temple in the 10th round. This was the first time Mundine lost.
Since the WBA and IBF super middleweight titles had been unified by Sven Ottke, Ottke was upgraded to "super" champion status by the WBA and the WBA "regular" super middleweight title was declared vacant (see undisputed champion). Mundine went on to claim the vacant WBA Super Middleweight title with a unanimous points decision over Antwun Echols on 3 September 2003, in front of his home crowd at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
