Anthony Mundine

Mundine was born in Newtown, in the inner west of Sydney in 1975. Both of his parents are Aboriginal.[9] Mundine was raised as a Christian but converted to Islam in the late 1990s.[10]

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.[11] That year, Mundine signed with the St. George Dragons as an eighteen-year-old.[12] Mundine 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 cunt".[14] Ward was fined $10,000 for the offense. 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 Broncos, scoring three tries.[15] 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 the Dragons.

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.[16] That year he also assisted the Dragons' run to the Grand Final, with a hat-trick against the Sharks in the major semi-final. The following week the Dragons 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, which proved to be a major turning point in the match.

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.[17]

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.[18]

In 2005 Mundine was reported to be making a comeback to the NRL,[19] 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,[20] Amos Roberts, Beau Mundine, Blake Ferguson[21] and Reece Robinson, all NRL footballers.[22] He is also the brother-in-law of Tyran Smith who married Mundine's sister, Kellie.[23] 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,".[24][25][26]

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 Junior Rugby League.[27]

Mundine is trained by his father, Tony Mundine, who was a middleweight contender during the 1970s.[28]

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.

Mundine has an extensive real estate portfolio and is also the owner of the sporting brand Boxa (est. 2000) and the Boxa Bar cafe in Hurstville.[46] Early on the morning of 14 November 2013 the bar was destroyed by fire.[47] Between 2000 and 2012 Mundine was managed by Khoder Nasser.[48]

Mundine appeared in the music video of Angry Anderson's 1990 hit song "Bound for Glory". In 2001 Mundine appeared as himself in the music video "Like a Dog" by the Australian rock group Powderfinger, whose frontman Bernard Fanning praised Mundine as "the perfect lead, in terms of what the song is about and the fact that he's prepared to speak up for what he believes in."[49] In 2005 he featured in beatboxer Joel Turner's single "Knock U Out". He then released his own debut single, "Platinum Ryder",[50] which also featured Nathan Merritt and Amos Roberts in the music video. The film clip created controversy for the burning of the Union Jack and a photo of then Prime Minister of Australia John Howard.[51] Mundine also appeared in the Brothablack music video, Are You With Me Out There, along with league player Joe Williams. In 2008 Mundine featured in the video of a GetUp Mob version of the song From Little Things Big Things Grow. In 2009 Mundine also appeared alongside Shannon Noll in the Street Warriors debut album, Unstoppable Force. Mundine's album, entitled Dreams is yet to be released and there is currently no stated release date.

In July 2002, both Anthony and his father Tony appeared on an episode of Burke's Backyard with veteran Australian Gardening guru Don Burke.[52] Also in 2002 he appeared with other stars and celebrities in Celebrity Big Brother.[53] In 2003 he was in an episode of Greeks on the Roof and in 2005 he appeared on Dancing with the Stars. From 2007 to 2009 he appeared on The Footy Show.[54] He was in a five-hour interactive DVD called Raising Children: A Guide to Parenting from Birth to Five. This DVD also featured Russell Crowe, Danielle Spencer, Neil Perry, Stan Grant and Johanna Griggs.[55] He has also appeared in The Contender Australia three times.[54] And been a guest, starring as himself, on the Pizza TV series. In 2010 Mundine was a Special Guest Trainer on The Biggest Loser Australia: Couples 2.

Mundine's portrait by James Hunt, entitled Bora Anthony Mundine, was a notable finalist in the 2002 Archibald Prize.

Mundine is featured as part of the roster on the Fight Night Round 4 and Fight Night Champion video games.

In October 2016 he appeared on Anh Do's Anh's Brush with Fame on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

In January 2018, Mundine was revealed as a celebrity contestant on the fourth season of the Australian version of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.[56] As of 8 February 2018, Anthony Mundine became the second celebrity to walk out on the 2018 series of I'm a Celebrity Get me out of here Australia following Bernard Tomic.[57]

In an interview in October 2001, Mundine said of the 11 September terrorist attacks, "They call it an act of terrorism, but if you can understand religion, and our way of life, it’s not about terrorism. It’s about fighting for God’s law, and America’s brought it upon themselves".[58] Offering some insight into his tendency to make controversial comments in the media, Mundine stated, "If you want to toe the line, if you want to be some corporate guy and say the right things, do the right things, you might be okay in the media's eye, but it won't be real for me".[59] Mundine later claimed he was taken out of context: "Those comments were just spun around like I was clapping my hands. I have a family too, I know what it is like to suffer the loss of someone close to me, and I would never wish that upon anyone. The point I was trying to get across was that it was in a war state of mind, and there is always going to be tit for tat, so why put yourself in a situation where you can endanger people. I have got nothing against any American, I have got nothing against any human being. It breaks my heart that people think I would even have that line of thought about being happy about people dying. That is crap and I want to clarify that because it is wrong".[60]

Mundine also referred to Cathy Freeman as a sellout: "Cathy Freeman. She sold out, toeing the line. And that ain't me. I'm not a fake." He also went on to state repeated times that men, not women, are more qualified to lead. "As far as being a leader, that's not her anyway, a man can only lead."[59]

In late 2012, Mundine questioned former opponent WBA/IBF champion Daniel Geale's indigenous Tasmanian heritage by saying that he should not wear the Australian Aboriginal Flag on his shorts: "I thought they wiped all the Aborigines from Tasmania out.... He's got a white woman, he's got white kids. I keep it real, all day every day". When asked whether Geale deserved to sport the Aboriginal flag on his trunks, he said, "No".[61] Mundine later apologised to Tasmanian Aborigines and added that he felt many people claimed indigenous heritage to receive government benefits but had no real connection with their Aboriginal roots. He also claimed that Australia was one of "the most racist nations in the world" before calling for the Australian anthem and the Australian flag to be changed to be more inclusive of indigenous Australians.[62]

In November 2013, Mundine, an Aboriginal Australian,[63] made comments on Twitter stating that homosexuality was incompatible with Aboriginal beliefs.[64] Following Mundine's comments, Aboriginal actor Luke Carroll pointed out that Mundine's own religious beliefs that led him to form his opinions on homosexuality were incompatible with the Aboriginal Dreamtime.[65] On coming out in a 2015 interview with NITV, former NRL player Casey Conway described Mundine's comments as "really disappointing" and unrepresentative of the Aboriginal community, describing the damage that homophobic comments can do to young people.[66]

• Mundine, Anthony; Daniel Q. Lane (2000). The Man. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9780732910440.

• Official website
• Boxing record for Anthony Mundine from BoxRec
• Anthony Mundine at IMDb