Iran Barkley

Iran Barkley
Data
Birth Name	Iran Barkley
Weight class	Super middleweight
nationality	US-american
birthday	June 6, 1960
place of birth	new York
style	Left delivery
size	1.85 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	63
Victories	43
Knockout victories	28
Defeats	19th
draw	1

Iran "The Blade" Barkley (born May 6, 1960 in the Bronx , New York ) is a former American boxer .

amateur

Barkley's greatest success as an amateur was third place at the 1982 World Amateur Championships in Munich . With wins against the Hungarians Imre Nemedi and Juri Torbek from the Soviet Union , he was able to qualify for the semi-finals in the middleweight division, but lost there just on points against the Cuban representative Bernardo Comas .

Professional career

Iran Barkley, a classic, aggressive and powerful boxer from the Bronx, turned pro in 1982 in the middleweight division. He was only moderately successful at the beginning and lost three of his first twelve fights, one by knockout . From 1984 to 1987 he managed to remain undefeated. He defeated among others, James Kinchen until the in Italy living Sumbu Kalambay for the middleweight title WBA lost on points.

In 1988 he won prematurely against Michael Olajide from Canada and was allowed to challenge Thomas Hearns for the WBC crown on June 6, 1988 . At first he was clearly inferior and close to knockout defeat, but then caught Hearns with a desperate blow and sensationally won by technical knockout in the third round. The " Ring Magazine " called this the "surprise of the year".

In the next fight he met Roberto Durán , another ring legend of the 1980s, and lost the title again. Durán was 37 years old and originally came from the lightweight, had his best days behind him. Nevertheless, he managed one last great victory in this fight. He beat Barkley on February 24, 1989 very narrowly on points, this had to go down. The "Ring Magazine" chose the duel as their "fight of the year".

Thereupon Barkley challenged the undefeated Michael Nunn for the IBF title on August 14, 1989 and lost again just barely. But already in his next fight he got another title chance : On August 18, 1990 he lost to the WBO title holder Nigel Benn by first-round knockout.

After three consecutive defeats, Barkley was already written off and his surprising win against Hearns dismissed as a flash in the pan, but he came back with his characteristic toughness. After two development fights in 1991 he got the opportunity to win the title again, this time in the super middleweight division. He knocked out the not particularly respected American Darrin Van Horn on January 10, 1992 in the second round with his parade strike, the left hook, KO.

Then it came on March 20, 1992 for a rematch with Hearns who had wrested the WBA title from Virgil Hill in the light heavyweight division. After a tough battle, Barkley won wafer-thin on points. It made him the only man who could beat Hearns twice. Barkley had now won titles in three weight classes.

But these battles had taken their toll and he was never able to build on this achievement. Since he was only allowed to keep one title, he decided on the super middleweight title and put down the light heavyweight belt. In February 1993 there was a title defense against the then undefeated slightly favored James Toney , who had been middleweight world champion for several years after a knockout over Nunn. What happened was a boxing demonstration by Tony, which many journalists consider to be the best fight of his career. He introduced Barkley and gave him no chance until he gave up in the tenth round. Barkley had not been able to hold any of his titles successfully.

Of his next four fights, he only lost the one against Adolpho Washington , but showed sharply declining performance. His well-known name was still attractive, so Henry Maske invited him to Germany in October 1994 for an IBF light heavyweight title fight. Barkley demonstrated once more that he was no longer the same and gave up after a weak performance.

Instead of hanging up his gloves, he remained loyal to the sport and even boxed in the heavyweight division in the following years, but lost half of his fights, including against Trevor Berbick . In 1997 he won against Gerrie Coetzee , briefly WBA heavyweight world champion in the 1980s, in his last professional fight. In 1998 he lost to Tue Thomsen on points .

After the end of his career in 1999, he founded the self-help association "Boxer for Boxer", which is supposed to support ex-boxers with health problems in obtaining medication.

Web links

• Iran Barkley in the BoxRec database
• The legendary first fight Hearns (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Thomas Hearns	World Middleweight Boxing Champion ( WBC ) June 6, 1988 - February 24, 1989	Roberto Durán
Darrin Van Horn	World Super Middleweight Boxing Champion ( IBF ) January 10, 1992 - February 13, 1993	James Toney