Jaggie van Staden took up boxing at the age of eight, inspired by his older brother Piet, who would go on to win the lightweight division at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Jaggie captured his first junior title as a featherweight in 1956 and then defended it in 1957 and 1958. In the latter year he also won his first senior title, as a lightweight, and then took the light-heavyweight crown in 1959. He was then selected to represent Rhodesia at the 1960 Rome Olympics, where he defeated Gerald Freeman of Australia in round two before being bested by Egypt’s Sayed El-Nahas in the third round. His only other major international competition was the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, where he was again eliminated in round three, this time by Ghana’s Ike Quartey, who had won the silver medal in Rome. Van Staden retired from active competition after this tournament and never turned professional.