Patrick Gerard Barnes (born 9 April 1987) is an Irish former boxer who competed 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 ...

from 2005 to 2016 and as a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

from 2016 to 2019. As an amateur he competed in the light-flyweight division, representing Ireland at the

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2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, and

2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

; winning bronze medals in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and

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, and represented Northern Ireland at the

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and

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

; winning a gold medal apiece at the two events. As a professional, he challenged for the WBC

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

title in 2018.

Early life

Barnes began boxing aged 11. He later joined the East Coast Boxing club. Barnes had an amateur record of 2-19 after his first 21 fights Aged 16, he joined Holy Family ABC in Belfast.

Amateur career

2007 , European Union Amateur Championships

In 2007, Barnes competed at the EU Championships in Dublin. He had his medal hopes crushed however when he suffered an eye injury. With bleeding found behind his retina, Barnes was forced out of the competition.

2007 , World Amateur Championships

At the World Championships in Chicago Barnes missed out on a bronze medal after he was defeated by China's Zou Shiming in the quarter-finals, Zou went on to win the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

. However, Barnes qualified for the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

by virtue of getting to the quarter-finals. *1st round – defeated Choi Jon Chuk

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

33–19 *Round of 32 – defeated Sadegh Zade Faraj

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

30–10 (RSCO) *Round of 16 – defeated Kenji Ohkubo Japan 24–6 *Quarter final – lost to Zou Shiming China 8–22

2008 , European Union Amateur Championships

In 2008, Barnes returned to EU Championships, this time in Cetniewo, Poland. Barnes made it to the final where he lost to Hungarian fighter Pál Bedák. The silver medal was enough to secure his place at the Summer Olympics.

2008 , Olympic Games

Barnes won Ireland's inaugural medal, at the 2008 Summer Olympics, by winning his quarter final bout in the light flyweight division. Barnes won a bronze medal after he was defeated in a second match with Shiming Zou in the semi-final, in a match where replays showed some of Barnes landed punches counted as points for Zou. *Round of 32 – bye *Round of 16 – defeated José Luis Meza 14–8 *Quarter final – defeated Łukasz Maszczyk 11–5 *Semi-final – lost to Zou Shiming 0–15

2010 , European Amateur Championships

On 12 June 2010, Barnes won the gold medal in the light flyweight division at the 2010 European Amateur Boxing Championships. Barnes, a 4–1 winner over Azerbaijan's Elvin Mamishzade, was 1–0 up at the end of the first round, 3–1 ahead at the end of the second and sealed the victory with a final point in the third for 4–1.

2010 , Commonwealth Games

Barnes represented Northern Ireland at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

. He won the gold medal, defeating Namibia's Jafet Uutoni 8–4 in the final. *Round of 16 – defeated Iain Butcher 4–2 *Quarter final – defeated Andrew Moloney 5–3 *Semi final – defeated Amandeep Singh 5–0 *Final – defeated Jafet Uutoni 8–4

2012 , Olympic Games

At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

he defeated Thomas Essomba from Cameroon 15–10 then beat India's Devendro Singh in his quarter-final bout to guarantee himself at least another bronze medal. In doing so, he became the inaugural Irish boxer to win medals at two consecutive Summer Olympics. For the semi-final, Barnes once again drew Chinese superstar Zou Shiming, who had defeated Barnes in the

semi-finals before taking gold. Barnes gave a fearless performance against the three time World champion, with the judges tying them 15–15 on the scorecards, only for Barnes to lose via a 45–44 countback. Shiming once again went on to win gold. *Round of 16 – defeated Thomas Essomba 15–10 *Quarter final – defeated Devendro Singh 23–18 *Semi-final – lost to Zou Shiming 15–15 / 44–45 (CB)

2014 , Commonwealth Games

As captain of the Northern Ireland boxing team in 2014 at

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Barnes led the way by winning gold in the flyweight division defeating India's Devendro Singh. It was the first time a Northern Irish boxer had successfully defended a Commonwealth title. The

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

was held at the

Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre The SEC Centre (originally known as the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre until 2017) is Scotland's largest Exhibition center, exhibit ...

. 17 boxers from 17 nations took part. After the competition, Barnes accepted an honour, the MBE, in the 2015 New Year Honours, for services to boxing and the community in Northern Ireland.

2015 , World Series of Boxing

Barnes competed in the WSB for the 2014–2015 season. Along with Michael Conlan, he was drafted by Italia Thunder. His first fight came against Magomed Ibiyev of the Baku Fires, in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

. Barnes won with a 49–46, 49–46, 50–44 unanimous decision. His second fight was another win, this time over Anthony Ortiz as Italia Thunder met the Puerto Rico Hurricanes. The judges scored it 48–47, 49–46, 49–46 as Barnes took another unanimous decision win. The Hussars of Poland were next up, in

Konin Konin () is a city in central Poland, on the Warta River. It is the capital of Konin County and is located within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. In 2021 the population of the city was 71,427, making it the fourth-largest city in Greater Poland af ...

. Barnes continued his perfect start to the season with a landslide 50–45, 50–43, 50–45 victory over Sebastien Jagodzinski. His record for the season went to four wins with four unanimous decisions, when he defeated Kazakh fighter Temirtas Zhussupoy of the Astana Arlans in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. His next fight was in Maiquetia, with a split decision win over Caciques de Venezuela's Finol Rivas. The judges scored the bout 49–45, 49–45, 47–48 in favour of Barnes.

2016 , Olympic Games

Barnes was also chosen to be the bearer of the

Flag of Ireland The national flag of Republic of Ireland, Ireland (), frequently referred to in Ireland as 'the tricolour' () and elsewhere as the Irish tricolour, is a vertical Tricolour (flag), tricolour of green (at the Flag terminology#Description of sta ...

Tricolour at the 2016 Summer Olympics, something that Barnes considered an "incredible honour". At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Barnes was defeated 2–1 by Samuel Carmona in the round of 16.

Provincial and National Titles

Barnes lost the

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

title in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He faced Jimmy Moore from

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

in each of his national finals being runner up in 2006 but winning the

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

title in 2007 and 2008.

World Series of Boxing record

Professional career

Barnes vs. Slavchev

After his amateur success, Barnes turned professional and made his debut as a

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

against Stefan Slavchev on 5 November 2016. Slavchev lifted Barnes into the air during the fourth round, so Barnes won the bout via disqualification.

Barnes vs. Rosales

On 18 August 2018, Barnes challenged Cristofer Rosales for his WBC world flyweight title. Barnes got off to a fast start, but was introduced to Rosales' power early in the first round. In the fourth round, Rosales caught Barnes with a vicious right-hand uppercut to the solar plexus. Barnes fell on the canvas and wasn't anywhere close to beating the count, which meant a KO victory for Rosales.

Barnes vs. Harris

On 11 October 2019, Barnes faced Jay Harris. Barnes was dropped by his opponent both in round three and round four. The latter proved to be the final one, as Barnes was not able to beat the count, and Harris was awarded the KO victory.

Retirement

In November 2019, Barnes announced his retirement from professional boxing.

Professional boxing record

Marriage

Barnes and Mari Burns, parents of two daughters, wed in July 2017 at St Bernard's Catholic Church, north Belfast. Barnes is also an Irish Speaker, and received a Silver Fáinne in 2019.

References

External links

*
Irish Times interview: Barnes not pulling any punches
24 July 2012
Profile
marypeterstrust.org; accessed 5 January 2018.
Paddy Barnes - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Paddy 1987 births Living people Boxers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Male boxers from Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Northern Ireland Light-flyweight boxers Olympic boxers for Ireland Olympic bronze medalists for Ireland Olympic medalists in boxing Boxers from Belfast Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Members of the Order of the British Empire Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games 21st-century British sportsmen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in boxing