Michael (Maxie) McCullagh, who died in London on March 30th, aged 79, was one of the greats of Irish boxing, gaining international recognition for his achievements in the ring.
He first won national titles in the 1940s and went on to represent Ireland, most notably in the Olympic Games in London, in 1948; the European Championships in Oslo in 1949; and at successive Golden Gloves contests in Chicago.
Born on June 21st, 1922, to Louie and Mary Anne "Polly" McCullagh, in Irishtown, Mullingar, he took his love of boxing, and his first boxing lesson, from his father, who was Army featherweight champion in 1918. On leaving St Mary's CBS, and following a series of "odd jobs" in and around his home town, he joined the Army in 1940 and became junior boxing champion of Ireland in 1944, aged 22.
During his Army days he was also a successful cross-country runner, a full-back for Mullingar Association Football Club (now Mullingar Town) and a keen basketballer, winning four all-Army medals. On leaving the Army in 1946, he became a garageman at a road freight maintenance depot at Broadstone, Dublin. He also worked for Guinness for a time.
His first international contest was in January 1946, when he represented Ireland against Wales. Between 1946 and 1952 he represented his country 31 times, with notable victories over top-rank Europeans and Americans.
A left-hander, he believed in an aggressive left and "terrier tactics" in the ring were said to be his "guiding principle".
One of the highlights of his boxing career was in Oslo in 1949 when he won the European lightweight championship, becoming the first ever Irishman to win a European title outside Ireland. He beat the highly-rated Frenchman, Mohammed Ammi, in a fight described at the time as being a "masterly display" of "brilliant footwork" and "rapier-like lefts". On his triumphant return to Dublin he mounted a white horse for what was described at the time as being a "Romanesque triumphal procession" to his club. When he returned to Mullingar, the Mullingar Boys' Pipe Band and the Mullingar Brass and Reed Band, with his father on drums, led him in an open-top car procession through the town. The following year he captained the Irish team in the US Golden Gloves tournament in Chicago and Washington and scored a famous victory over the then world lightweight champion.
That year he was voted Boxer of the Year by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association. Afterwards he was approached by many top promoters to turn professional, but he always declined, preferring the amateur ranks.
He is also one of the few boxers to have been felled after winning a fight. After knocking out a German fighter he was celebrating victory, when his resuscitated opponent came back to life and knocked him out.
After his retirement from boxing in 1952 he became a trainer at the Dublin Corinthians Boxing Club and played a big part in turning out many first-class boxers, including a young Cabra man, Steve Collins, who would become a world champion.
He was a founder and president of the CIE Broadstone Sports Club and in 1996, the club's new gymnasium was named in his honour. He was also a president of the Irish Ex-Boxers' Association. In 1997 he was honoured by Westmeath County Council and was accorded an Address of Recognition to mark his sporting achievements.
He is survived by his daughters Helen and Marie; sisters Mary and Iris and brother Kevin. He was predeceased by his wife Helen (Nellie) and his brother Louie Jnr.
Michael McCullagh: born 1922; died, March 2001