Matthew Barney (born 25 June 1974) is a British former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who competed from 1998 to 2012. He held the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

super middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

title in 2003. In 2002, Barney held the Southern Area

title.; that same year, Barney defeated Paul Owen for the

British Masters The Betfred British Masters is a professional golf tournament. It was founded in 1946 as the Dunlop Masters and was held every year up to 2008, except for 1984. Dunlop's sponsorship ended in 1982, and the name sponsor changed frequently therea ...

super middleweight title. Then in 2003, Barney defeated

Dean Francis Dean Temius Francis (23 January 1974 – 25 May 2018) was a British professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2014. He held the British super middleweight title from 1997 to 1998; the EBU European super middleweight title in 1997; the Comm ...

for the British super middleweight title. In 2005 Barney challenged

Thomas Ulrich Thomas Ulrich (born 11 July 1975, in Berlin) is a German former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2012. He challenged twice for a light-heavyweight world title: the WBC title in 2005, and the WBO/ lineal titles in 2006. He also held ...

for the European light heavyweight title, and in most viewers opinions had won every round that evening, to then hear the score cards of 115 to 114 on all cards for Ulrich. Barney also fought

Carl Froch Carl Martin Froch, (born 2 July 1977) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2014, and has since worked as a boxing analyst and commentator. He held multiple super-middleweight world championships, including the W ...

in July 2005 for the British and Commonwealth super middleweight title but lost on a points decision. He fought

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

's Paul Morby for the vacant title on 25 September 2010 at the Fleming Park Leisure Centre in

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

. Barney's manager,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

promoter Michael Helliet, said, "I'm sure he can still win major titles and this fight is a step towards that." Barney has also held the IBO Intercontinental and

WBU The World Boxing Union (WBU) was a boxing sanctioning body. The original WBU was founded in January 1995 by IBF European representative, boxing journalist, actor and former holder of the title of Britain's heaviest man Jon W. Robinson. It san ...

versions of the

title. After beating

Tony Oakey Tony Oakey (born 2 January 1976) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1998 to 2010. He held the Commonwealth light heavyweight title in 2001 and the British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British ...

for the WBU light heavyweight title at the Mountbatten Centre on Oakey's home turf whilst being given only 48 hours notice to box, Barney outclassed the home fighter comfortably at which point a near riot broke out at the venue

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barney, Matthew Light-heavyweight boxers 1974 births Living people English male boxers