Maxie McCullagh

The son of a former Army boxing champion, Maxie McCullagh won his first national Irish junior boxing title in 1944 and made his senior international début against Wales at Dublin in 1946. He beat Mickey O’Neill to win his first senior Irish title in 1947 and was also a beaten quarter-finalist in that year’s European Amateur Boxing Championships at Dublin.

McCullagh went to the 1948 London Olympics and was ahead of Denmark’s Svend Vad after two rounds of their lightweight quarter-final bout, but the Dane did enough in the third and final round to deny McCullagh with a points victory. Many inside the Wembley Arena, including respected journalists, thought the Irishman had secured the win, but the outcome was probably consistent with the poor standard of boxing refereeing and judging at the 1948 Games.

After beating Val Harris to secure his second national title in 1949, McCullagh went to the Europeans at Oslo and retuned home with the lightweight gold medal after beating Mohammed Aimme of France in the final. He was the first Irishman to win a European title, and it would not be until Paul Griffin won the featherweight title in 1991 that the feat was emulated. McCullagh never turned professional and represented Ireland as an amateur more than 30 times. After retiring from the ring in December 1952, he turned to coaching and promoting boxing locally in Westmeath.