TONY MADIGAN’S sporting life amounted to a whole lot more than a few appearances for Harlequins in the early 1950’s. He deserves a rare footnote in rugby history as the only player to stand toe-to-toe with the most famous sportsman of the 20th century.
The mighty Quin boxed Muhammad Ali twice back in the day when ‘The Lip’ still went by the name Cassius Clay and took him the distance on each occasion, during an inter-city Golden Gloves promotion in Chicago in 1959, then again at the Rome Olympiad the following year.
In a heavyweight semi-final, Madigan lost on points...