Boxing has a long and storied history in Australia with the fans lauding the champions of the sweet science as national heroes.
Whether it is an immigrant that rose to become a star of the sport or a code swapping super athlete, nothing captures the public attention in Australia quite like a world champion boxer.
We’ve ranked our top five Australian boxing stars of all-time, with all five men worthy of their place in the annals of sporting history.
Kostya Tszyu (Professional record: 31-2)
The man they called “The Thunder from Down Under” emigrated to Australia in 1992 and turned pro that same year.
Three years later he was a world champion. His reign at the top of the world rankings was unprecedented as an Australian, losing just twice across his 34 fight professional career.
Lionel Rose (Professional record: 42-11)
Lionel Rose was the first Indigenous Australian to win a world title, putting him in rarefied air. The bantamweight picked up the WBA and WBC belts when he defeated Fighting Harada on points in 1968.
While there are 11 losses on his record, this is somewhat lopsided due to an ill-fated return to the sport that resulted in four defeats from six fights. But make no mistake, Rose was one of the best Australia has produced.
Jeff Fenech (Professional record: 29-3-1)
One of Australia’s first national boxing heroes, Fenech captured the national attention throughout his fantastic career, which yielded three world championships at different weight classes.
Fenech’s “I love youse all” also became part of the modern Australian lexicon.
Anthony Mundine (Professional record: 38-19)
The self-proclaimed “The Man” backed up his big mouth and won a lot of Aussies betting with Australian bookmakers plenty of cash along the way.
A glittering boxing career saw him win the WBA super-middleweight title twice between 2003 and 2008, the IBO middleweight title from 2009 to 2010, and the WBA interim super-welterweight title from 2011 to 2012.
Johnny Famechon (Professional record: 56-5-6)
Born in France, Johnny Famechon moved to Australia when he was young and became one of the country’s top boxing products. Famed for his defensive abilities, Famechon became Australian, Commonwealth and world champion at featherweight.
He defeated Jose Legra in 1969 to claim the WBC belt, successfully defending it twice in two classic bouts against Fighting Harada before then losing to Vicente Saldivar in what turned out to be his final bout.
