| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for New Zealand | ||
| Men's Boxing | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
| Silver | 1984 Los Angeles | Light heavyweight |
| Commonwealth Games | ||
| Bronze | 1982 Brisbane | Light heavyweight |
Kevin Michael Joseph Barry (born 10 October 1959 in Christchurch) is a noted New Zealand former boxer, boxing trainer, manager and occasional commentator. He is the son of noted boxing trainer Kevin Barry, Sr.
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Kevin Barry's first international success was a bronze medal at the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games in the Light Heavyweight division.[1]
Barry gained considerable prominence when he participated in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles as a contestant in the Light Heavyweight division. He won through to the semi-final, where he faced future four-time world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield.
In a controversial decision, referee Gligorije Novicic of Yugoslavia disqualified a clearly dominant Holyfield for repeatedly hitting on the break. While Novicic yelled break during a Holyfield flurry of combinations, Barry went down.
As a result Barry was awarded the silver medal, although he was not permitted to contest the gold medal bout against Yugoslav Anton Josipović since he had been technically knocked out. After the games Barry was offered a large sum to fight Holyfield, but wisely declined.[1]
Barry became a professional coach in 1990. He remains active in boxing as a trainer and manager. This Kevin Barry is not to be confused with the Australian heavyweight of the same name.
Barry remained involved in boxing and became a trainer. After New Zealand Heavyweight David Tua won bronze at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Barry helped persuade him to turn professional, managing Tua from 1992–2003 and acting as his trainer from 2001-3.
Under Barry's management Tua became a contender, unsuccessfully challenging heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis in 2000. In addition Barry has a number of up and coming boxers under his guidance. Currently Kevin trains World Light Heavyweight Champion, Beibut Shumenov (Kazakhstan).
Barry is married to former New Zealand Olympic gymnast Tanya Moss. They have three children together, (Daughter: Jordyn, and twin sons Taylor and Mitchell. They reside in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has also been a frequent commentator on New Zealand boxing broadcasts, and is a prominent member of the New Zealand boxing community. He has been active in nearly all facets of boxing - from Olympic athlete to trainer, manager, promoter and television commentator.
Kevin Barry managed boxer David Tua from 1992 to 2003, and also trained him from 2001. But in 2003, Tua ended his business relationship with Barry and financial manager Martin Pugh. Though Barry accepted his dismissal as trainer, he resisted Tua's decision to end their contract, which still had two years to go. In 2004, Tua's accountant learned that the boxer's finances with his boxing company, Tuaman Inc. Ltd., were tangled with company expenses; Tua no longer had most of his $NZ 20 million in purses from his professional matches, and important assets Tua thought he owned alone were anything but, including a piece of coastal land at Pakiri. Tuaman Inc. Ltd had business expenses flowing in various directions, involving companies and clients Tua had no knowledge of. Tua's own home was purchased with borrowed money, and the boxer's purses were linked to renovation costs for Martin Pugh's property. These findings were based on documents from Pugh's offices. Court action was inevitable.
In 2005 Tua took Kevin Barry and Martin Pugh to court over their business arrangements. Barry and Pugh have accused Tua of manipulating them to collect revenue, yet Tua maintained that he knew little of the men's affairs and did what they told him to do out of trust. The dispute has so far given both sides legal victories: over the issue of the coastal land property, the court ruled in favor of Barry and Pugh, since Tua failed to properly clarify his ownership over the land; on the issue of the terminated 2003 contract, the court ruled in Tua's favour, concluding he clearly owed no expenses to his former management from that contract. The courts are currently preparing to handle the other issues of the boxer's company's finances.