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More than half a century before his death, Tony Mundine walked into one of boxing’s most intimidating arenas and attempted to do what nobody had managed to pull off for almost a decade.
Beat the great Carlos Monzon.
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It was October 5, 1974, inside Buenos Aires’ famous Luna Park, and Mundine was a very long way from the tiny northern NSW community of Baryulgil where he grew up.
Standing across the ring from him was arguably the greatest middleweight of all time – whose legacy would later be stained by his conviction for murder.
Monzon was a national hero in Argentina, a fearsome champion who hadn’t lost in 10 years and was already four years into a reign that would eventually become one of the most celebrated in boxing history.
A drinker and heavy smoker, Monzon had also been shot twice the previous year by his wife during a domestic dispute. One of the bullets stayed lodged in him for the rest of his life.
He had beaten Nino Benvenuti twice, Emile Griffith twice, Bennie Briscoe and Jose Napoles. Big names.
Now it was the Aussie’s turn to step up.
Tony Mundine and Carlos MonzonSource: FOX SPORTS
“There was a big crowd and soldiers everywhere with guns,” Mundine would later tell renowned Aussie boxing writer Grantlee Kieza.
“Carlos was the best fighter I ever faced, the hardest puncher too.
“He was very tall and he had great range and timing. He had a terrific eye and the ability to pick off your punches.”
Mundine even recalled the hometown crowd chanting “Kill Mundine” over and over as he prepared to throw down with their champion.
Yet while history records what happened next as another successful defence for the mighty Monzon, the fight remains one of the defining moments of Mundine’s career.
Because the Aussie hadn’t flown halfway around the globe hoping to pull off a miracle.
He absolutely belonged in there.
More than a year before he squared off with Monzon, “The Big Cat” was already being spoken about internationally as the man who might eventually replace the great Argentine at the top of the middleweight division.
An AFP report in 1973 described Mundine as a “young and powerful puncher” who many considered the successor to Monzon’s throne.
Then, in November that year, Mundine travelled to Paris and beat the great Emile Griffith over 12 rounds – a victory he would later describe as the greatest of his 80 pro wins.
Griffith, a former welterweight and middleweight world champion who had already fought Monzon twice, knew exactly what top class looked like.
“Yes, I think he’s one of the top middleweights around,” Griffith said afterwards. “He’s good.”
By the time Mundine reached Monzon, he had already been Australian and Commonwealth middleweight champion, while his devastating punching power had established him as a serious threat on the international stage.
And from the opening bell in Buenos Aires in ‘74, he definitely fought like it.
Carlos Monzon and Tony MundineSource: FOX SPORTS
Mundine started aggressively, forcing Monzon backwards as the Aussie attempted to turn the biggest fight of his life into a battle.
The pair traded heavily during the early rounds and, while Monzon – who was a notorious slow starter – gradually began finding his range and rhythm.
Years later, Mundine remained adamant there had been a moment when he thought one of boxing’s great upsets was moments away.
“I had him gone in the fourth round but I couldn’t finish him,” Mundine told the ABC in 2020.
But Mundine also believed there was another factor working against him that night.
The scales.
Mundine had sucked his frame down to 159 pounds – just over 72kg – to challenge the man known as “Escopeta” [or Shotgun].
And he later revealed to Kieza just how much that drain took out of him.
“Back in those days I had trouble making the middleweight limit,” Mundine said.
“Now they have a super-middleweight division (76kg) which would have suited me…
“I lost a lot of strength just making the weight limit.”
It is one of the great what-ifs of Mundine’s career.
The super-middleweight division did not exist at world championship level in 1974 – and Mundine had fought and won the Australian heavyweight title years before against Foster Bibron.
Still, Mundine made no excuses for what happened next.
“He was a great fighter and a great champion, and that’s why he is a champion,” said Mundine.
Eventually, Monzon showed exactly why.
The Argentine’s timing, reach and experience increasingly took over as the fight wore on, with the champion landing heavy leather in the fifth and sixth rounds.
Then, 80 seconds into the seventh round, it was over.
A barrage of punches sent the Aussie to the canvas and Monzon had successfully defended his middleweight crown for the 9th time.
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Tony Mundine in Ern McQuillian’s Sydney gym.Source: FOX SPORTS
Mundine had fallen short of becoming world champion.
But it had been an incredible journey to simply to get there.
As a teenager in Baryulgil without running water or electricity, Mundine had fought in Jimmy Sharman’s famous travelling boxing tents when they rolled into nearby Grafton.
Inspired by Indigenous boxing icon Lionel Rose, he turned pro in 1969 and, just five years later, was challenging one of the greatest middleweights in fistic history for the championship of the world.
“I was just a little chocolate boy from Baryulgil, and here I was travelling the world,” Mundine would later say.
Mundine continued fighting for another decade and retired in 1984 with 80 victories, including 64 knockouts, from a excellent career that saw him win Australian titles across multiple divisions.
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His name would eventually become familiar to another generation of Aussie sports fans as the father and trainer of Anthony Mundine.
Yet long before ‘The Man’ became a world champion, his father had already fought at the very highest level – and at a time when there were fewer champions per division.
Tony Mundine never won a world title. But on one unforgettable night in Buenos Aires, he stood across from Carlos Monzon and tried to take his.
And looking back on everything boxing had given him – from Baryulgil to Buenos Aires, Mundine needed only a few words to sum it all up.
“I’m proud of who I am,” he told Kieza.
“Proud of what I did.”