Barry McGuigan

Hi all,

Now I'm obviously a casual fan of boxing, watched a lot more of from when it actually used to be Saturday night TV (Watson, Benn, Eubank etc) and one that I always recall but I never hear mentioned on here is Barry McGuigan.
Is there a reason for this? Was he just not rated by you guys?

There's a few threads where a match-up with Nelson is longed for, as well as his mention in the Worst HoF thread just below.

I know oh dear all about him so I can't say much.

My take on McGuigan would be that he was a thoroughly capable and worthy champion while falling some way short of ATG status, Hero.

Very exciting to watch, and a tremendous body puncher, but he was lucky enough to catch Pedroza on the slide and unlucky enough to inhabit the featherweight division at the same time as the legendary Azumah Nelson, who, had the two met, would very likely have knocked Barry out. If we were to imagine a situation whereby Hatton won his title by toppling a faded legend, ( which, to be fair, he did, ) and would then have spent his best years unable to establish himself as ' the man ' of the division because a nailed on ATG such as Manny or Floyd would also be resident in the division, we would be left with a similar situation to that of McGuigan, in my opinion.

Just about a top twenty British (don't bother with the 'Is he / isn't he British?' debate, please) fighter of all time, but at the very low end of such a list.

While I think too many people are too quick to degrade his win over Pedroza, it's arguable that McGuigan was actually already on the slide slightly by this stage, and it's inarguable that the title reign which followed that victory was a disappointment.

His popularity and the unique place he had in the affections of the British and Irish public (and the fact that he's generally seen as a lovely fella) mean that a lot of people have a distorted view of him; the truth is, McGuigan was a fine fighter (and certainly a very exciting one), was good for the sport on these shores, but was by no means a great and, in all honesty, doesn't really stand notably above the likes of Jim Watt or Howard Winstone in the British all-time stakes, despite his considerably higher public profile than both of them.

I will declare my bias.I spent a great deal of time and probably far too much money following Barry's fights.
He was the type of fighter it was easy to become emotionally attached to
As always when you are a big fan then its a bit of a roller coaster ride.I cant tell you much about all of his fights since I was normally a bit of a nervous wreck during them.
I can recall him taking a huge right from Roldan when they fought.Stopped Barry in his tracks but he stayed up and got on with the fight.I knew then he would at some stage be a world champion
The fight with Pedroza was a great night and stand out boxing memory for me
The loss to Stevie Cruz was quite the opposite
Where he sits overall... well I'm not sure and not really all that bothered.Gave me some great times
I was glad he didn't fight Nelson .I suspected his go forward style would result in a knockout.I couldn't see him getting near Sanchez either.No shame there though as they are both ATG's in my book.
Met him a couple of times and he does seem a genuinely nice guy
Not the most balanced view but certainly a fans perspective

licence_007 wrote:There's a few threads where a match-up with Nelson is longed for....

Nelson would hammer him. He's almost twice his size.

All that banter between them before the Haye/Harrison fight was just for the cameras. They're actually good friends.

STC wrote:

licence_007 wrote:There's a few threads where a match-up with Nelson is longed for....

Nelson would hammer him. He's almost twice his size.

All that banter between them before the Haye/Harrison fight was just for the cameras. They're actually good friends.

l

Azumah Nelson was a machine no doubt about that, Barry gets a lot of stick for being inducted into the IBHOF especially from America. I'm not sure if he should have been inducted myself but Barry was a great fighter with a big following, he no doubt deserves a mention in the history books but maybe not a Hall of Fame fighter.

I thought we were on about Johnny.

STC wrote:I thought we were on about Johnny.

True STC sorry about that, they did get a little bit touchy with each other, Azumah was still a machine though.

Great fighter was Azumah. McGuigan would have done well to beat him I reckon.

True STC, i think Azumah was maybe a little too strong for him.

Too strong? Maybe. McGuigan was a powerhouse for such a wee man, let's not forget, and he could rough up anyone at 126 lb. I think the problems facing McGuigan had he fought Nelson would be more in the fact that Nelson, as well as being a great puncher, could actually box and move, which was always a problem for Barry.

Although I favour Nelson the fight is pretty close
Zoomy could be prone to laziness and Barry was a very busy fighter.In addition Barry had a great chin .
I can see a points decision for McGuigan
Sanchez is all wrong for Barry though.Taking it to a great counter puncher is never going to work

Good point Chris, but Azumah in his prime has far too much for Barry for me.

I'd agree, Galveston, was just highlighting that for me he beats Barry due to him having a much more rounded skill set, rather than simply being stronger.

88Chris05 wrote:I'd agree, Galveston, was just highlighting that for me he beats Barry due to him having a much more rounded skill set, rather than simply being stronger.