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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

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 beg ...

title from 1988 to 1989, the IBF

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 is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

title in 1992. As an

amateur boxer 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, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

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

Black Spades The Black Spades were a mostly African-American street gang which started in the Bronx in the Bronxdale houses during the late 1960s and gained popularity in the 1970s. The gang began to spread from the Bronx to Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, S ...

street gang A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...

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. Two years later, in 1988, Green ...

. 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 great-uncle of

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

running back

Saquon Barkley Saquon Rasul Quevis Barkley ( ; born February 9, 1997) is an American professional American football, football running back for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn State Nittany ...

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 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 the 156& ...

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

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

*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 is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

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, 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 "Detroit, Motor City Cobra", and more famously "the Hitman", Hearns's tall, slender build and long arms and shoulders al ...

, 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 de ...

in a 12-round war with

Roberto Durán Roberto Carlos Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held quadruple champion, world championships in four weight classes: Lightweight, welterweight, light middleweigh ...

, 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 IBF 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 Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (at ...

. He next fought

Nigel Benn Nigel Gregory Benn (born 22 January 1964), is a former British professional boxer who competed from 1987 to 1996. A two-weight world champion, he held the WBO middleweight title in 1990 and reigned as the WBC super-middleweight champion f ...

in a challenge for the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

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 International Boxing Federation (IBF) and lineal ...

. 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 Treuen ...

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 OIB (8 April 1955 – 12 January 2023) was a South African professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1986, and in 1993 and 1997. He was the first African in history to ever fight for, and win, a world heavyweight ...

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

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

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 in

Lapwai Lapwai is a city in Nez Perce County, Idaho, Nez Perce County, Idaho, United States. Its population was 1,137 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, and it is the seat of government of the Nez Perce people#Nez Perce Indian Reservation, Ne ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

at the Pi-Nee-Waus Community Center of the

Nez Perce Tribe The Nez Perce (; Exonym and endonym, autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwes ...

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 section in 1972. The founders, social worker Mildred Zucker of the Federation o ...

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 163rd Street to the south, and Webster Avenu ...

area of the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, 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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Barkley's great-nephew,

, is an

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)#Offense ...

who was selected with the second pick in the

2018 NFL draft The 2018 NFL draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington southwest of Dallas; it was ...

, and won

NFL Offensive Player of the Year The National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award is an annual American football award given by various organizations to the National Football League (NFL) player who is considered the top offensive player during the regular season. O ...

after a record-breaking

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

season.

Professional boxing record

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

* WBC middleweight champion (160 lbs) * IBF super middleweight champion (168 lbs) * WBA light heavyweight champion (175 lbs)

Regional/International titles

* WBC Continental Americas

champion (160 lbs) (2×)

Honors and awards

Barkley is a member of the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Boxing Hall of Fame.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barkley, Iran 1960 births Living people African-American boxers Boxers from the Bronx Gang members American male boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists 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 sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen People from Morrisania, Bronx People from Mott Haven, Bronx