Iran Barkley (born May 6, 1960) is an American 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 1982 to 1999. He held world championships in three weight classes, including the WBC

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

title from 1988 to 1989, the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

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 from 1992 to 1993, and the WBA

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

title in 1992. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, Barkley won a bronze medal in the middleweight division at the 1982 World Championships.

Early life and family

Iran Barkley was the youngest of eight children raised in the

Patterson Houses The Lester Patterson Houses or Patterson Houses is a public housing development in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City. It was named after Bronx assemblyman and judge Lester W. Patterson. It is one of the largest New York Cit ...

. His parents were Frank Barkley, Sr. and Georgia Barkley. He was a member of the

Black Spades The Black Spades are a mostly African-American street gang which started in the Bronx during the late 1960s and gained popularity in the 1970s. The gang began to spread from the Bronx to Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, New Rochelle, ...

street gang in his youth, along with former heavyweight contender

Mitch Green Mitch Green (born January 13, 1957) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2005. He is best known for having gone the distance with Mike Tyson in 1986, who was undefeated at the time, and had won 20 matches in a row ...

. Iran's sister Yvonne, who boxed professionally during the late 1970s, convinced him to start boxing when he was 13 years old, training under Bobby Miles and Connie Bryant. He is the uncle of NFL running back

Saquon Barkley Saquon Barkley ( ; born February 9, 1997) is an American football running back for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Prior to entering the NFL in 2018, Barkley played college football at Penn State for three seasons gai ...

Amateur achievements

*1981 – Silver Medal (165 lb) at the New York Golden Gloves, losing to

Dennis Milton Dennis Milton (born August 23, 1961) is an American former professional boxer. Amateur career Milton had a stellar amateur career, having won four New York Golden Gloves Championships. Milton won the 1981 165 lb Open Championship and won ...

*1981 – Gold Medal (165 lb) at the Empire State Games *1982 – Bronze Medal (165 lb)at the Copenhagen Box Cup in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

*1982 – Bronze Medal (75 kg) at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Professional career

Known as "The Blade", Barkley turned professional in December 1982, and first challenged for a world title against the highly skilled Italian

Sumbu Kalambay Patrizio Sumbu Kalambay (born 10 April 1956) is a Congolese-born Italian former professional boxer. A world champion and two-time title challenger, he held the WBA world middleweight title from 1987 until 1988. Personal life Kalambay was born ...

, losing on points over fifteen rounds for the vacant WBA

title in Livorno, Toscana, Italy in October 1987. Barkley returned in 1988 with a split decision over Sanderline Williams and a fifth-round stoppage of Michael Olajide, before winning the WBC middleweight title with a third-round knockout of

Thomas Hearns Thomas Hearns (born October 18, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 2006. Nicknamed the "Motor City Cobra", and more famously "The Hitman", Hearns's tall, slender build and oversized arms and shoulders allowe ...

, voted 1988 Upset of the Year by ''The Ring'' magazine. In his next fight, Barkley lost his title via

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

in a 12-round war with

Roberto Durán Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, as wel ...

, in a fight proclaimed 1989

Fight of the Year Fight of the Year is an award given to the boxing match considered to be the best fight that year. It is awarded by a variety of different institutions. It may refer to: * ''The Ring'' magazine Fight of the Year – awarded by ''The Ring'' magazi ...

by ''Ring'' magazine. Following the defeat to Duran, Barkley took on undefeated

Michael Nunn Michael John Nunn (born April 14, 1963) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2002. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the IBF middleweight title from 1988 to 1991, and the WBA super middleweight title ...

for the

and lineal middleweight titles, dropping a close

majority decision A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. In a majority decision, two of the three judges agree on which ...

. He next fought

Nigel Benn Nigel Gregory Benn (born 22 January 1964) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1987 to 1996. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO middleweight title in 1990 and the WBC super-middleweight ti ...

in a challenge for the WBO middleweight title and was stopped on the three-knockdown rule at the end of a wild first round in which both fighters were hurt. After losing to Benn, Barkley underwent surgery for a detached retina and was inactive for a year. Barkley returned with two low-key wins at light heavyweight in 1991, then defeated Darrin Van Horn to win the IBF

title in two rounds in January 1992 in Paramount Theatre, New York. Just two months later, he went on to again defeat Hearns and take his WBA

title via a twelve-round split decision. Barkley vacated the title without defending it, choosing instead to defend his super middleweight title against IBF and lineal middleweight champion

James Toney James Nathaniel Toney (born August 24, 1968) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2017. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the IBF and lineal middleweight titles from 1991 to 1 ...

. Barkley reportedly had trouble getting back down to the 168 lb weight limit and lost his IBF title via a corner retirement after nine rounds due to severe swelling around both eyes. Barkley's final shot at a title would come against undefeated

Henry Maske Henry Maske (, ; born 6 January 1964) is a German former professional boxer and one of Germany's most popular sports figures. He held the IBF light heavyweight title from 1993 until 1996. Amateur career Maske was born in Treu ...

at light heavyweight for Maske's IBF title in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany in October 1994. Barkley again lost by corner retirement after nine rounds. Barkley continued to fight after this loss, eventually moving up to the heavyweight division. His last fight of note was a June 1997 win for the WBB heavyweight title, a bout in which Barkley retired former WBA heavyweight champion

Gerrie Coetzee Gerhardus Christian Coetzee (born 8 April 1955) is a South African former professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1986, and in 1993 and 1997. He was the first African ever to fight for, and win, a world heavyweight championship, having hel ...

with a 10th-round TKO. Barkley 'retired' in 1999 after losing a bout in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

by sixth-round stoppage to Keith McKnight.

Comeback

In 2006, at the age of 46, Barkley won an unsanctioned bout by second-round stoppage in Aruba. In 2008, at age 48, Barkley fought to a six-round draw in an unsanctioned exhibition bout against heavyweight

Chauncy Welliver Chauncy Welliver (born 28 April 1983) is an American-New Zealand heavyweight boxer from Spokane, Washington who lived in Auckland, New Zealand. He has a career record of 57–13–5. Throughout his career he has never been knocked down and at one ...

Lapwai Lapwai is a city in the Northwestern United States, northwest United States, in Nez Perce County, Idaho, Nez Perce County, Idaho. Its population was 1,137 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, and it is the seat of government of the Nez Pe ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

at the Pi-Nee-Waus Community Center of the

Nez Perce Tribe The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...

. A May 20, 2011, online article on ''Boxrec News'' hinted Barkley was seriously considering making a comeback in the ring at age 51.

Professional boxing record

Honors and awards

Barkley is a member of the

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Boxing Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Barkley's first child was born to Barkley's common law wife Pam in 1981. He has four children and has been divorced twice. Barkley has fallen on some difficult times since his retirement from boxing. Penniless and unemployed, he became homeless in November 2010 after he was evicted from his Bronx apartment. Through the support of the Bronx nonprofit

BronxWorks BronxWorks is a human service organization and settlement house based in the Bronx, New York City that was founded as Citizens Advice Bureau in the Morris Heights, Bronx, Morris Heights section in 1972. The founders, social worker Mildred Zucke ...

and the Ring 10 boxing charity, he found housing and receives assistance so he can become self-supporting. Barkley resides in the

Morrisania Morrisania ( ) is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern Bronx, New York City, New York. Its boundaries are the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, Crotona-Prospect Avenue to the east, East 161st Street to the south, and Webster Avenue ...

area of the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

. Barkley enjoys teaching boxing skills to young amateurs. He is a ringside regular at boxing matches in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Barkley's great-nephew,

, is an NFL

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

who was selected with the second pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barkley, Iran 1960 births Living people African-American boxers Boxers from New York City Middleweight boxers Sportspeople from the Bronx Gang members American male boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Super-middleweight boxers Light-heavyweight boxers Heavyweight boxers World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions International Boxing Federation champions World middleweight boxing champions World super-middleweight boxing champions World light-heavyweight boxing champions 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople