Starring first as a rugby league player with St George Illawarra and the Brisbane Broncos and then as a boxer for almost 20 years, Mundine was never far from controversy.

His willingness to speak his mind helped sell a lot of fights and stir up plenty of bad blood – but it also inspired a generation of Indigenous youth across the country.

In the latest Indigenous Sports Month Q and A, Mundine opens up to Phil Rothfield on battling racism during his playing days, how things have changed for this playing generation and what his outspoken ways may have cost him across his three decades as an elite sportsman.

Buzz: Choc you were the Original. The first Aboriginal in rugby league and Australian sport to stand up very loudly for Indigenous causes.

Choc: Yeah, today it’s more fashionable for people to express themselves. I was one-out all by myself flying the flag with the whole system coming at me. I’m proud that I paved the way.

Buzz: You weren’t the most popular at the time.

Choc: 100 per cent. The mainstream media can have an influence on the way people think.

Buzz: I was one of your critics. We didn’t talk for years. That was more about September 11, though. I also thought you were too brash, too over-the-top.

Choc: I was never for killings and innocent people dying. Any life is precious. It’s a tragedy to lose one life, let alone hundreds. I said it raw, sort of uncut. It wasn’t what I meant to say.

That’s why I left for Germany early to fight Sven Ottke (2001) because of the backlash I was getting. Serious, I’m a loving, caring guy. I would never want anyone murdered.

Buzz: You’ve actually helped people over the years who have threatened to take their own lives.

Choc: Definitely. I didn’t just uplift my people, black, white, brown and brindle. I’ve had white guys come to me and say they were thinking of killing themselves. Suicide.

They said they were still here today because of me. It’s really powerful shit, man. These are people I’d never met before. But I’d inspired them.

Buzz: On to some issues. Do you remember the day at Kogarah Oval that Barry Ward called you a black c…. It was 1998. He got fined $10,000.

Choc: As clear as anything. I was early twenties. I was happy I went on with it. Things like that have paved the way for what’s happening today. There was a lot of it going on at the time. You study my history, I was doing this stuff one-out.

I’m not bagging my brothers but Gordy Tallis, Ricky Walford and Preston Campbell didn’t speak up for what I was doing. Please don’t think I’m criticising them. No one was comfortable about it back then, I understand that, but I spoke the truth.

Buzz: Are you proud of taking that stance.

Choc: You had to have big-arse balls. We’d copped this our whole f…ing lives.

Buzz: Do you remember the incident clearly with Ward.

Choc: Yeah, I do. I came in for a tackle, me and Robbie Simpson. Then Barry called me ‘a black c…’.

I said, ‘What?’. I went back to get onside. Then Robbie said: “Did you hear what he called you?’. So I went on with it after the game.

Buzz: Have you spoken to Barry since?

Choc: No, but I’m not mad at him. Barry was not on his own. People in those days were brought up accepting racism. It was embedded into their psyche. What he uttered to me … that’s what we were often referred to as. This was the dark history of Australia.

Buzz: It’s getting better now mate.

Choc: Agree. There’s much more awareness. More education. Now brothers are standing together. Look at Latrell (Mitchell), Cody (Walker) and Foxy (Josh Addo-Carr). I wish it was like that in my day. Still, I believe I have played a pivotal role for these boys to carry it through.

I’m very proud of them. I’ve said things I regret. I’ve apologised. But it was important even with the backlash, death threats and all that.

Buzz: Over your whole career, Choc, as a rugby league and boxing champion, you didn’t get much corporate support despite few Australian sportsmen having achieved what you did.

Choc: That’s fair to say but I don’t care. I’m the type of guy that speaks the truth. I’m not the corporate guy that will toe the line and say all the right things if it’s not the right thing. That’s not me. I am who I am. I can’t change. I never relied on sponsorship, anyway. I was controversial, I guess, from the start and people didn’t like that.

Buzz: Originally, the controversy was not about your Indigenous statements, threatening to sit down for the anthem and things like that. You were cocky, overconfident, some would say even disrespectful.

Choc: I was brash, flamboyant, cocky and explosive sort of character, that was me. Australia wasn’t used to that.

Buzz: Who inspired you to be the spokesman for Indigenous people? Was it Nicky Winmar, or someone like him?

Choc: No I read a couple of good books. Malcolm X. Muhammad Ali. I was the same on a smaller scale and in a position to make a difference against the injustices and oppressions that my people faced in this country. I had to stand up. I took them on one out. It was wrong what was happening.

Buzz: Do you think it cost you?

Choc: That’s why I left rugby league. Chris Anderson was coaching Australia. He said I didn’t get picked because of my off-field characteristics. I was close to being the best player in the world at that time. Didn’t drink, didn’t touch drugs, didn’t gamble and didn’t assault a woman. So what was he talking about? I was strong-minded and opinionated. That’s what he judged me on.

Buzz: Are you still hurt by that?

Choc: Yeah. The following year I had a good pre-season and was playing well coming up to the Anzac Test. I can still clearly remember it. We played Newcastle in Newcastle, Canberra and then the Roosters at WIN Stadium. I carved them up all three games. Laurie Daley and Brad Fittler were injured. Everyone thought I was next in line but they picked Matty Johns. Not bagging Matty, I love him, but I was topping line breaks, try assists, I scored 17 tries the season before. For them to not reward me … that’s when I quit the NRL.

Buzz: Any regrets about leaving?

Choc: I was a beast at 15. Bozo (Bob Fulton), God bless his soul, wanted to sign me at Manly at 15. They were going to give me $10,000 cash. People knew I was special. I didn’t want to travel to Manly every day. It’s not my neck of the woods. Maybe I should have signed because Bozo was very influential.

Buzz: What about going to boxing?

Choc: I was always going, it was a matter of when. I knew I was always going to be a world champion. It was in my destiny. And no one has ever achieved what I did in two sports.

Buzz: You’ve made good money, Choc. How much?

Choc: More than $30 million. I’ve invested well in property.

Buzz: You’ve also been very generous.

Choc: Humbly, caring is one of the pillars of Islam. I converted in 1999. I’ll always thank Khoder (Nasser) for that. You care. I make sure I help out the needy and the poor. You can’t take it with you. There’s no ATM at the cemetery. I try to build a future for my children. But I’ve probably given away about $5 million. You’d have to ask my mum.

Buzz: What is it about the Indigenous rugby league player? Why are they so good?

Choc: It’s a gift. You’re born with instinct and an explosiveness. Vision and off-the-cuff footy. It’s something that can’t be taught by anyone. The hardest footy I’ve every played is Aboriginal knockout. The passion, the skill, the energy. You can’t read what the opposition is doing.

Buzz: Choc, you’re 47, why are you going to play again in A grade for the Waterloo Waratahs?

Choc: If I stop playing sport, I get old quick. I’m not going to be just a number. I’m going to make a contribution. I’m sprint training. I’ll be prepared. I feel like I’m 30. I still love the game. I grew up loving the Parramatta Eels, Brett Kenny and Stevey “Zip-Zip” Ella. I still love it.

Buzz: Don’t you worry about concussion and all the knocks you’ve had?

Choc: I had more knocks playing footy than boxing. Maybe three times proper concussed in boxing.

Buzz: What do you think of the NRL crackdown?

Choc: I think they’ve gone a bit far. You’ve got to have entertainment. That’s why NRL is great. The big hits and the big collisions back in the day. They can tweak the rules but don’t change things so drastically.

Buzz: Have you got a healthy brain?

Choc: Of course, bra. I’m as sharp as tack. I swear to god.

Buzz: So what’s the next chapter?

Choc: I want to raise good kids. I’m succeeding in that. Respectful kids, nothing like me (laughs). I want them to have their own personalities, as long as they’re not being disrespectful. I want them to help an old lady on a walking stick. Things like that. They can be cocky, brash and have belief in themselves. Power to that. But I want them to be respectful.

THE PHILIOSOPY AND TIMES OF MUNDINE

May 21, 1975

Born the son of former boxer Tony Mundine. From the Bundjalung people of northern NSW.

1993

Made his professional rugby league debut for the St George Dragons at age 18.

1994

Represented Junior Kangaroos who beat Great Britain’s under-19s in the curtain-raiser to the Australia v France Test at Parramatta Stadium.

1997

Wins premiership title with Broncos – beating the Cronulla Sharks. Signs again with the Dragons for the 1997 season.

1998

Victim of racial vilification when Bulldogs player Barry Ward calls him a “black c …”. Ward fined $10,000. Plays in a losing grand final against the Manly Sea Eagles before announcing he’s switching to the Brisbane Broncos in Super League.

1999

Selected to play for NSW in State of Origin series, scoring a try in Game I on debut.

In NRL grand final against Melbourne Storm, he steers St George Illawarra to 14-0 halftime lead but his bombed try, knocking on over the tryline early in the second half, was blamed for denying the joint venture its maiden premiership. Overlooked for the Kangaroos team to compete in the end-of-season Tri-Nations tournament.

2000

Walks out on the Dragons halfway through the season despite behind the highest-paid player in the NRL.

In his first professional fight, after just four amateur bouts, beats Kiwi Gerrard Zoks by knockout in Sydney in July.

Named Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Person of the Year in 2000 and has continued to champion Indigenous rights in the years since.

2001 Feb

Lifts Australian super middleweight belt in beating Marc Baguero by technical KO in Gosford.

October

After converting to Islam in the late 1990s, attracts international condemnation for his comments about the September 11 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,” he said.

December 1

Just 11 fights into his professional career, he suffers eighth-round knockout at the hands of German Sven Ottke, who successfully defended his world title for the 13th time. A brutal right hand to the temple had Choc laid out cold on the canvas.

2003

Over 12 gruelling rounds, The Man surprised American Antwun Echols on points at Sydney’s Entertainment Centre in March to be officially crowned world champion.

“Everyone said I couldn’t do it, everyone said it was a dream,” Mundine said. “I just want to thank every single human being – black, white, Asian, ethnic … thank you.”

2006

In one of the highest-billed fights in Australian boxing history – and the biggest pay-per-view event Down Under – Mundine squared off with Danny Green in a WBA Super Middleweight title eliminator in May. Mundine’s speed and jab were too much for the Green Machine, prevailing by unanimous decision.

2007

Having lost his WBA Super Middleweight belt to Manny Siaca in 2004 and failing to win it back against Mikkel Kessler (2005), Mundine got his hands on the prize again when he beat Sam Soliman by knockout for the vacant world title in Sydney in March.

2007

Declares Cathy Freeman could not be an authentic Indigenous leader because she was too heavily involved in corporate Australia. “Aboriginal people don’t buy that,” he said in December. “She sold out, toeing the line. And that ain’t me. I’m not a fake.”

2010

Mundine’s plans to conquer the US were stopped dead when he was shocked by fellow NSW boxer Garth Wood by way of a fifth-round knockout in December. The loss ended Mundine’s 17-fight winning streak dating back to Mikkel Kessler in 2005.

2012

Mundine terms Australia “one of the most racist countries” for its treatment of First Nations people. He leads calls for the Australian flag and national anthem to be changed.

“I want to move forward, I want to unite the people,” he said.

In October, Mundine takes a shot another Indigenous Australian, saying Daniel Geale did not deserve to sport the Aboriginal flag on his shorts.

“I thought they wiped all Aborigines from Tasmania out. He’s got a white woman, he’s got white kids. I keep it real, all day every day,” Mundine said.

2013

For the first time in history, two Australians fight for the IBF Middleweight title. Daniel Geale wins by unanimous decision, prompting Choc to question the result and storm out of the ring.

After the January 30 loss, his former manager Khoder Nasser leads calls for him to retire. Mundine carries on, losing five of his next nine starts, including his rematch with Green in 2017.

2013

Takes aim at homosexuals in October. “My dad told me GOD made ADAM & EVE not Adam & Steve,” Mundine wrote on Facebook.

He made similar remarks while a contestant on I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here in 2018. “If you’re going to be gay, do it behind closed doors.”

2018

Suffers shocking first-round knockout defeat to Jeff Horn in 2018. But still he pushes on.

After Horn, Mundine loses to John Wayne Parr in 2019.

2020

On New Year’s Eve, Mundine announces the decision to slightly alter the Australian national anthem’s lyrics – changing “young and free” to “one and free” – “still ain’t good enough”.

“It’s always gonna be a white supremacy song until the whole song is rewritten,” he said.

Mundine had previously referred to the anthem as “the theme song for the white Australian policy”.

2021, Mar 14

The Man is outclassed by Michael Zerafa in just over two minutes. Bell sounds on his career.

– Contributions from JASPER BRUCE/ CAMERON TOMARCHIO