Barry McGuigan

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Barry McGuigan
Statistics
Real name	Barry McGuigan
Nickname	The Clones Cyclone
Weight	Featherweight
Nationality	Irish
Birth date	28th February, 1961
Birth place	Clones, Republic of Ireland
Style
Boxing record
Total fights	35
Wins	32
Wins by KO	26
Losses	3
Draws
No contests	0

Barry McGuigan (born February 28, 1961 in Clones, County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland), nicknamed The Clones Cyclone, is a former professional boxer who became a world Featherweight champion.

McGuigan is a Roman Catholic, and at a time when Roman Catholics and Protestants were in the middle of a deeply rooted conflict in Northern Ireland known as "The Troubles, McGuigan married a Protestant woman, and the popular saying was coined: Leave the fighting to Barry. His insistence on being a non-sectarian sporting ambassador for Northern Ireland drew on the experience of George Best and would later be emulated by Eddie Irvine -- although the three men had little else in common.

McGuigan, who is the son of the late Pat McGuigan, a famous singer in Ireland, represented his native country at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

Contents 1 Professional Career 2 After Boxing 3 Other Recognition 4 External links

[edit] Professional Career

He started his professional boxing career on May 10, 1981, beating Selwyn Bell by a knockout in two rounds in Dublin. After another win, he suffered his first setback, losing to Chris Eubank's brother, Peter Eubank by a decision in eight rounds at Wembley, England. During most of his career, McGuigan divided his fights between the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and England.

After his first loss, McGuigan notched up two more wins, including one over Terry Pizzarro, and then he was given a rematch with Eubank. The second time around, McGuigan prevailed, by a knockout in the eighth round.

In 1982, McGuigan won eight fights, seven by knockout. One of the fights almost destroyed his career and his life. He was faced on June 14, 1982, with Nigeria's Young Ali. McGuigan won by a knockout in six rounds, and Ali fell into a coma from which he never recovered, dying six months later in his homeland. According to the book The Ring Boxing The 20th Century, this affected McGuigan so much that he wasn't sure he wanted to keep on boxing after that fight.

However, he did continue boxing, and in 1983, he won four fights, including his first trip to fight outside Europe (when he beat Samuel Meck by a knockout in six in Ontario, Canada), before getting his first try at a title. On November 16, Italy's Valerio Nati defended his European Featherweight belt versus McGuigan in Belfast, and McGuigan won the crown with a knockout in the sixth round. He then became the number one Featherweight challenger in the World Boxing Association.

In 1984, he won five bouts, all by knockout. Among the fighters he beat were former world title challengers Jose Caba and Felipe Orozco. He also beat fringe contender Paul DeVorce to keep his chance at a Word Championship attempt alive.

In 1985, McGuigan met former world Featherweight champion Juan Laporte and won by a decision in the tenth round. Following one more win, he finally got his world title try when the WBA world featherweight champion, Eusebio Pedroza, came to London to put his title on the line against McGuigan. McGuigan became a world champion by dropping Pedroza in round seven and winning a unanimous fifteen round decision in a fight refereed by hall of fame referee Stanley Christodoulou at Loftus Road stadium London. McGuigan instantly became a national hero, and earned promotional deals such as a video game named Barry McGuigan Boxing, which won critical acclaim (awarded a "Sizzler!" in Zzap64). Later that year, he was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, becoming the first (and so far only) non-British citizen to win the award.

McGuigan made his first defence against Bernard Taylor, who was stopped in the ninth, and then against Danilo Cabrera, who got knocked out in fourteen rounds. This proved to be a controversial stoppage: The fight was stopped after the challenger bent over to pick up his mouthpiece after losing it, a practice that is allowed in many countries but not in Ireland. Cabrera was not aware of this, and the fight was stopped. Although Cabrera's corner protested the outcome, McGuigan remained the winner by a knockout.

For his next defence, he went to Las Vegas in June of 1986, where he faced the relatively unknown Stevie Cruz from Texas in a fifteen round title bout. McGuigan held a lead halfway through, but suffered dehydration because of the extreme heat, and wilted near the end, being dropped in rounds ten and fifteen. He eventually lost a fifteen round decision and the world belt. After the fight, McGuigan required hospitalisation because of his dehydrated state.

After that fight he retired, partly due to the death of his father in 1987. He used to say his father was his greatest inspiration and after his death he apparently felt there was no reason to continue boxing. However, he returned to the ring between 1988 and 1989, beating former world title challengers Nicky Perez and Francisco Tomas Da Cruz before losing to future challenger Jim McDonnell by a Technical knockout in four rounds(Cuts). After that fight, he retired permanently from boxing.

His record was 32 wins and 3 losses, with 26 wins by knockout. In January 2005, McGuigan was elected into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

[edit] After Boxing

In the 1980s he was a chat show host on BBC1.

McGuigan currently lives in London with his wife and children, and works as a boxing commentator for ITV. He has tried a hand at acting, appearing in the movie Malicious Intent in 2000. He has a band, of which the Northern Irish actor, Adrian Dunbar, is also a member. Two biographies of McGuigan have been written.

More recently, fellow Clones native and boxer Kevin McBride has honoured McGuigan by adopting the nickname The Clones Colossus.

[edit] Other Recognition

• Inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame
• Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005
• Fought in Ring Magazine's 1986 Fight of the Year in his title losing effort against Steve Cruz in Las Vegas.
• Title character in the 8bit computer game, Barry McGuigan World Championship Boxing
• Voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1985.

[edit] External links

• Barry McGuigan is currently Managed by Classic Management
• Barry McGuigan at boxrec.com

Preceded by Eusebio Pedroza	WBA Featherweight Champion 8 Jun 1985– 23 Jun 1986	Succeeded by Steve Cruz
Preceded by Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1985	Succeeded by Nigel Mansell