Finbar Patrick McGuigan MBE was born on 28 February 1961 and is an Irish boxing promoter and former professional boxer.
41 Facts About Barry McGuigan
2.
In 1985, Barry McGuigan became BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
3.
Barry McGuigan founded, and is the current president of, the Professional Boxing Association.
4.
Barry McGuigan is the founder and CEO of Cyclone Promotions.
5.
Barry McGuigan is a dual citizen of both Ireland and the United Kingdom.
6.
Pat Barry McGuigan sang "Danny Boy" before several of his son's matches.
7.
Barry McGuigan became a UK citizen so that he could compete for British titles.
8.
Barry McGuigan attracted an enormous following in the mid-1980s, particularly to the King's Hall in Belfast which he regularly filled to capacity.
9.
Barry McGuigan is a Roman Catholic, and at a time when Catholics and Protestants were clashing during The Troubles, he married a Protestant, Sandra Mealiff.
10.
Barry McGuigan stated that the support he received from both Protestants and Catholics in Ireland was because:.
11.
Barry McGuigan began his juvenile boxing career at the Wattlebridge Amateur Boxing Club, County Fermanagh and later moved to the Smithborough Amateur Boxing Club, County Monaghan.
12.
Barry McGuigan won the All Ireland Amateur Championship in 1976 having defeated Martin Brereton.
13.
Barry McGuigan represented Northern Ireland in the Commonwealth Games at Edmonton 1978 and represented Ireland at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
14.
Barry McGuigan competed at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as a featherweight; his record was:.
15.
Barry McGuigan began his professional boxing career on 10 May 1981, beating Selvin Bell by technical knockout in two rounds in Dublin.
16.
The second time around, Barry McGuigan prevailed, by a knockout in the eighth round.
17.
Barry McGuigan defeated Paul Huggins and Angelo Licata during this period.
18.
Barry McGuigan won the crown with a knockout in the sixth round.
19.
Barry McGuigan then became the number one featherweight challenger for the WBA.
20.
Barry McGuigan 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.
21.
In 1985, Barry McGuigan met former world featherweight champion Juan Laporte and won by a decision after ten rounds.
22.
Barry 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.
23.
Barry 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.
24.
Barry 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.
25.
Barry McGuigan eventually lost a close decision and his world belt, which he was never to reclaim.
26.
Barry McGuigan used to say his father was his greatest inspiration and, after his death, apparently felt no reason to continue boxing.
27.
However, with his relationship with previous manager Barney Eastwood now at an end, Barry McGuigan returned to the ring between 1988 and 1989, under the management of Frank Warren.
28.
Barry McGuigan beat former world title challengers Nicky Perez and Francisco Tomas da Cruz, as well as contender Julio Cesar Miranda, before facing former EBU featherweight champ and future WBC and WBA super featherweight challenger Jim McDonnell.
29.
Barry 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.
30.
Barry McGuigan's record was 32 wins and 3 losses, with 28 victories by knockout.
31.
Barry McGuigan attempted to establish an association to protect the rights of boxers against what he, and others, considered omnipotent managers and promoters.
32.
Barry McGuigan participated in The Grand Knockout Tournament 1987 charity event television special.
33.
Barry McGuigan is currently a boxing manager and promoter through Cyclone Promotions.
34.
Barry McGuigan 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.
35.
Barry McGuigan has tried his hand at acting, appearing in the movie Malicious Intent in 2000.
36.
Barry McGuigan served as referee on the UK television game show Grudge Match, hosted by Nick Weir.
37.
Barry McGuigan 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.
38.
Barry McGuigan was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2000 and International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005.
39.
Barry McGuigan 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.
40.
Barry McGuigan was honoured in an Irish ballad song released in 1984, "Clones Cyclone", written by Johnny McCauley and sung by Big Tom.
41.
Barry McGuigan was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1994.