Finbar Patrick "Barry" McGuiganMBE (born 28 February 1961) is an Irish boxing promoter and former professional boxer. Born in Clones, County Monaghan, McGuigan was nicknamed The Clones Cyclone and held the WBA and linealfeatherweight titles from 1985 to 1986. At regional level he also held the British and European featherweight titles between 1983 and 1985. In 1985, McGuigan became BBC Sports Personality of the Year. In 2005, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
During his professional career, McGuigan fought at a number of venues in Ireland and Britain. He attracted an enormous following in the mid-1980s, particularly to the King's Hall in Belfast which he regularly filled to capacity. McGuigan is a Roman Catholic, and at a time when Catholics and Protestants were clashing during The Troubles, he married a Protestant, Sandra Mealiff.[4][5] As of 2010, they remain married after over three decades.[6]
McGuigan stated that the support he received from both Protestants and Catholics in Ireland was because:
"[the] shadows ran deep. And my fights felt a little like sunshine. Both sides would say: 'Leave the fighting to McGuigan.' You see, it was also entertainment – people loved to forget the Troubles a while. The fact that I wouldn't wear green, white and gold or put on a sign that said this is who I represent was powerful. It was a very mature and dangerous thing to do. I wouldn't choose sides. People appreciated that."[7]
He and his wife have both been patrons for children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent.
Barry McGuigan competed at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as a featherweight; his record was:
Round of 32: defeated Issack Mabushi (Tanzania) referee stopped contest in third round
Round of 16: lost to Winfred Kabunda (Zambia) by decision, 1-4
Professional career
McGuigan began his professional boxing career on 10 May 1981, beating Selvin Bell by technical knockout (TKO) in two rounds in Dublin. After another win, he suffered his first setback, losing a hotly disputed decision to Peter Eubank (brother of Chris Eubank) over eight rounds at Corn Exchange at the Brighton Dome.[8] 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.[9]
In 1982, McGuigan won eight fights, seven by knockout, but one of these almost destroyed his career and his life. Fighting Young Ali, on 14 June 1982, McGuigan won by a knockout in six rounds; Ali fell into a coma and died two days later.[10] According to the book The Ring: Boxing The 20th Century. Ali's death affected McGuigan so much that he was not sure he wanted to carry on as a boxer. He also defeated Paul Huggins and Angelo Licata during this period. In 1983, he won four fights, earning the British Title against Vernon Penprase. This period marked his first trip to fight outside Europe (when he beat Lavon McGowan by a knockout in the first round in Chicago), before he got his first try at a European title.[citation needed]
On 16 November, Italy's Valerio Nati boxed McGuigan for the vacant European Featherweight title in Belfast. McGuigan won the crown with a knockout in the sixth round. He then became the number one featherweight challenger for the WBA. In 1984, he won six bouts, all by knockout. Among the fighters he beat were former world title challengers Jose Caba and Felipe Orozco. McGuigan also overcame contenders Paul DeVorce and Charm Chiteule, retained his British and European titles against Clyde Ruan, and held on to the latter belt against Esteban Eguia to keep alive his chances of a world title fight.[citation needed]
In 1985, McGuigan met former world featherweight champion Juan Laporte and won by a decision after ten rounds.[11] Following one more win (a defence of his European title against Farid Gallouze), McGuigan finally earned a tilt at a world title. Long-reigning WBA featherweight champion, Eusebio Pedroza of Panama, put his title on the line at Loftus Road football stadium in London. McGuigan became the 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. McGuigan and his wife were feted in a public reception through the streets of Belfast that attracted hundreds of thousands of well-wishers. Later that year, he was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, becoming the first person not born in the United Kingdom to win the award.[12]
McGuigan made his first defences against American Bernard Taylor, who was stopped in the ninth round, and Danilo Cabrera, who was knocked out in fourteen rounds. This proved to be a controversial stoppage: the fight was ended when 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 rule 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 1986, where he faced relatively unknown Steve Cruz from Texas as a late replacement for Ramon Fernando Sosa who pulled out for having two detached retinas. It proved to be a gruelling fifteen-round title bout under a blazing late-afternoon sun and 110-degree heat in the ring.[13] McGuigan held the lead halfway through, but suffered dehydration because of the extreme heat and wilted near the end, being knocked down in rounds ten and fifteen. He eventually lost a close decision and his world belt, which he was never to reclaim. After the fight, McGuigan required hospitalisation because of his dehydrated state.[14]
After that fight McGuigan retired partly due to the death of his father in 1987. WIth his relationship with previous manager Barney Eastwood at an end, McGuigan returned to the ring between 1988 and 1989, under the management of Frank Warren. He beat former world title challengers Nicky Perez and Francisco Tomas da Cruz, as well as contender Julio César Miranda, before facing former EBU featherweight champ and future WBC and WBA super featherweight challenger Jim McDonnell. McGuigan lost by TKO when a gash over his right eye, caused by a McDonnell left hook in the second round, forced the referee to stop the fight in the fourth. McGuigan then retired permanently from boxing. His record was 32 wins and 3 losses, with 28 victories by knockout.
McGuigan is the founder and president of the Professional Boxing Association (PBA).[15] He is also the founder and CEO of Cyclone Promotions.
McGuigan attempted to establish an association to protect the rights of boxers against what he, and others, considered omnipotent managers and promoters. In this regard, McGuigan maintains he had had a difficult time during his own career. A previously very close relationship with his manager, Barney Eastwood, deteriorated badly over time and led to a successful libel case against him by Eastwood several years later.[16] He participated in The Grand Knockout Tournament 1987 charity event television special. In the 1980s, he was a chat show host on BBC1.[citation needed]
McGuigan lives near Whitstable, Kent, with his wife. He currently works as a boxing pundit for Sky TV. Two biographies of McGuigan have been written. He is currently a boxing manager and promoter through Cyclone Promotions.[17] McGuigan's relationship with world champion, Carl Frampton, whom he managed and promoted, ended in 2017. The matter was finally settled out of court in November 2020.[18] McGuigan's daughter, Nika, died in 2019 aged 33.[19]
He is the Chairman of the Professional Boxing Association, an organisation he has wanted to set up for over a decade, with the intention of teaching boxers the importance of education, and indeed educating them.[15]
McGuigan has tried his hand at acting, appearing in the movie Malicious Intent in 2000. He also served as referee on the UK television game show Grudge Match, hosted by Nick Weir.[citation needed] He appeared in the third series of ITV's Hell's Kitchen in September 2007, where he was eventually crowned the winner after winning the public vote.[20] In August 2009, he co-presented Charity Lords of the Ring with Lucy Kennedy.[21]
On 15 August 2009, McGuigan went on The Weakest Link
On 3 January 2024, Cyclone Promotions Ltd and McGuigan's Gym Ltd, of which McGuigan was a director, passed into liquidation.[22]
McGuigan was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2000 and International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005.[25] He also fought in Ring Magazine's 1986 Fight of the Year, and was a title character in the 8-bit computer game, Barry McGuigan World Championship Boxing. McGuigan was honoured in an Irish ballad song released in 1984, "Clones Cyclone", written by Johnny McCauley and sung by Big Tom.[26] The popular German musician and composer Udo Lindenberg also dedicated his song "Jonny Boxer" to McGuigan in 1986. The Bournemouth-based band The Worry Dolls named a track "Barry McGuigan" on their album, The Man That Time Forgot.[27]
McGuigan was the subject of a comedy record by Dermot Morgan, 'Thank You Very Much Mr Eastwood', in which Morgan impersonated him and his habit of thanking his manager and family in post-fight interviews. The record reached number one in the Irish singles charts in December 1985.[28]
Eusebio Pedroza was a Panamanian boxer who held the WBA and lineal featherweight championship from 1978 to 1985, having defended the title against 18 different contenders, more than any other boxer in featherweight history. His cousin, Rafael Pedroza, was a world champion also, in the junior bantamweight division, although Rafael's reign as world champion was short-lived. Eusebio Pedroza died one day before his 63rd birthday.
Boxing in the 1980s was filled with important fights, events and personalities that shaped the sport. Boxing in the 1980s was shaped by many different situations, such as the continuous corporate battles between the different world sanctioning organizations, the void left by Muhammad Ali as the sport's ambassador and consequent search for a new boxing hero, the continuous presence of Don King as the sport's most famous promoter, the surge of rival promoters as Bob Arum, Butch Lewis and Murad Muhammad, and major rule changes. In 1986, Mike Tyson emerged as a fresh new face in the heavyweight division, which had seen a decline in champion quality level after Ali's retirement and, later on, after longtime WBC ruler Larry Holmes' prime. In addition, the IBF and WBO began operating.
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