How high do you rank Iran Barkley

[Sadiqkingofko]

He's a three weight champion, beat Thomas Hearns (2X), but lost 19 times

[Sugar Adam Ali]

I don't rate him high historically..

But the 19 losses were mostly at the tail end of his career, way past his prime..


Not a great

But he was a legit rugged, tough world class fighter in his day


Would love to see him around today battling guys like ggg, froch, Ward, Stevenson, etc

[Elroy The Great]

i dont. he was fun to watch though.

[TheReadyTimeBoy]

A top fighter in his day. As others said many of the losses were when he was shot. I could see him beating everyone at 160 today (fights with GGG and Alvarez could go either way)

[The Old LefHook]

He does not make the top anything. The behemoth lost to little Duran, at least they gave Duran the fight.

[billeau2]

He's a three weight champion, beat Thomas Hearns (2X), but lost 19 times

He was a certified bad a ss. I mean it. In his day the south bronx was f ucking brutal and apparently his sister could kick the s hit out of most people in the hood, lol. Just a very tough hombre. he was actually a gang leader also.

I mention that because he took that toughness to the ring. Kind of like Margarito, a guy who whether you won or lost, you got beat up fighting him. If he could out tough you, intimidate you he could take a lot of punishment and could keep coming back, and sometimes that was enough.
You seldom see guys like Iran, they were much more comfortable with 15 rounds and guys today avoid tough opponents who could hurt them. they would rather have an ammy fight for 12 easy rounds and call it a day. Guys like Iran were stone cold destroyers.

la Motta, Pryer, were similar but had much more skills than barkly. Gene Fullmer was similar and he beat the best once, Margarito is another one who may be similar, these are men who do not see boxing as a contest of skills, or technical skills, but rather as a contest of wills, who can stand the most punishment... that was Barkly!

[OctoberRed]

A very tough fighter. A top contender in his day, but way more talented fighters were around then. In today's era he would be a Golovkin type of fighter and I would pick him against most.

Poor bastard pissed all of his money away. I remember reading once that he was living in a 100 dollar a week motel room.

[IronDanHamza]

Average-below average.

[The Old LefHook]

He can be thanked for the definitive information he gave on Hearns.

[Sheldon312]

A very tough fighter. A top contender in his day, but way more talented fighters were around then. In today's era he would be a Golovkin type of fighter and I would pick him against most.

Poor bastard pissed all of his money away. I remember reading once that he was living in a 100 dollar a week motel room.

GGG is head and shoulder above Barkley.