Tony Madigan

Tony Madigan was a three-time Olympian and one of Australia’s best-loved boxers. In 1960 he fought the Olympic semi-final against Cassius Clay, later best known as Muhammad Ali, the most famous boxer of the later 20th century. Madigan had actually fought, and lost, to Clay / Ali, in 1959, in the US National Golden Gloves, when Madigan was training there with Cus D’Amato, who later trained Ali. Madigan lost the Olympic semi-final but returned home from Roma with a bronze medal.

Madigan won two gold medals at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958 and 1962, after a silver in 1954. He never boxed professionally, although he did sign a contract to do so with promoter Eddie Eagan. In 1953 Madigan lost in the ABA finals to Henry Cooper, but in 1954 became the first Australian to win an ABA title (in England). Madigan won his later titles despite sustaining multiple injuries in a serious car crash in 1955 in Bavaria, Germany. Madigan lost control of the car on an icy road and his passenger, a young woman, was killed.

In the early 1960s Madigan settled in London where he sold property investments and worked as a model. He then moved to New York, where his modeling career prospered, and he also sold for Rothmans. Madigan’s first sporting love was rugby football, which he played with Randwick and Eastern Suburbs in his native Australia. He later played for the Harlequin Club in London and the Westchester Rugby Club in New York. Madigan also worked as an actor in Australia, appearing in the western series “Whiplash”. In 2010 Madigan was inducted into the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame. He eventually settled in the south of France where he indulged his sailing hobby.