Iran Barkley (; born May 6, 1960) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1999. He held world championships in three weight classes, including the World Boxing Council(WBC) middleweight title from 1988 to 1989, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) super middleweight title from 1992 to 1993, and the World Boxing Association (WBA) light heavyweight title in 1992. As an amateur boxer, 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 street gang in his youth, along with former heavyweight contender Mitch 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 running back Saquon Barkley.
Amateur achievements 1981 – Silver Medal (165 lb) at the New York Golden Gloves, losing to Dennis Milton 1981 – Gold Medal (165 lb) at the Empire State Games 1982 – Bronze Medal (165 lb)at the Copenhagen Box Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark 1982 – Bronze Medal (75 kg) at the World Championships in Munich, West Germany
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 middleweight 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, voted 1988 Upset of the Year by The Ring magazine.
In his next fight, Barkley lost his title via split decision in a 12-round war with Roberto Durán, in a fight proclaimed 1989 Fight of the Year by Ring magazine. Following the defeat to Duran, Barkley took on undefeated Michael Nunn for the IBF and lineal middleweight titles, dropping a close majority decision. He next fought Nigel Benn 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 super middleweight 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 light heavyweight 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. 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 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 with a 10th-round TKO.
Barkley 'retired' in 1999 after losing a bout in Mississippi 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, Idaho at the Pi-Nee-Waus Community Center of the Nez Perce Tribe.
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 and the Ring 10 boxing charity, he found housing and receives assistance so he can become self-supporting.
Barkley resides in the Morrisania area of the South Bronx.
Barkley enjoys teaching boxing skills to young amateurs.
He is a ringside regular at boxing matches in New York City.
Barkley's great-nephew, Saquon Barkley, is an NFL running back who was selected with the second pick in the 2018 NFL draft, and won NFL Offensive Player of the Year after a record-breaking 2024 season.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes63Loss Keith McKnightTKO6 (10), Jul 31, 1999 62Loss43–18–1 Trevor BerbickUD8Jun 29, 1999 61Loss43–17–1 Tony HalmeSD12Apr 19, 1999 60Loss43–16–1 Thomas WilliamsTKO4Mar 19, 1999 59Loss43–15–1 Joey GuyPTS10Jan 27, 1999 58Loss43–14–1 Tue Bjørn ThomsenUD6Nov 6, 1998 57Win43–13–1 Caseny TruesdaleTKO4 (10)Oct 22, 1998 56Draw42–13–1 Dan Kosmicki4 (8), Sep 30, 1998 55Loss42–13 Tony LaRosaUD10Aug 22, 1998 54Win42–12 Marcelo AravenaTKO3Sep 13, 1997 53Win41–12Gerrie CoetzeeTKO10 (12), Jun 8, 1997 52Win40–12 Dave FiddlerKO1Jan 22, 1997 51Win39–12 Caseny TruesdaleTKO4 (6), Nov 20, 1996 50Win38–12 Frankie HinesTKO1Nov 14, 1996 49Win37–12 Dan KosmickiUD8Sep 6, 1996 48Win36–12 Craig PayneMD8Jul 27, 1996 47Win35–12 Brian YatesUD8Jun 3, 1996 46Win34–12 James BakerTKO1 (8), Feb 2, 1996 45Loss33–12 Rocky GannonMD8Aug 18, 1995 44Loss33–11 Tosca PetridisUD10May 14, 1995 43Loss33–10 Henry MaskeRTD9 (12), Oct 8, 1994 42Win33–9 Gary ButlerUD8Jul 22, 1994 41Win32–9 Rick EnisTKO4 (10)May 24, 1994 40Loss31–9 Adolpho WashingtonTKO6 (10), Oct 20, 1993 39Win31–8 Dino StewartTKO9Aug 30, 1993 38Loss30–8 James Toney9 (12), Feb 13, 1993 37Win30–7 Robert FolleyKO4 (10), Dec 5, 1992 36Win29–7 Thomas HearnsSD12Mar 20, 1992 35Win28–7 Darrin Van HornTKO2 (12), Jan 10, 1992 34Win27–7 Jesus Castaneda8 (10)Oct 3, 1991 33Win26–7 Juan HernandezUD10Aug 16, 1991 32Loss25–7 Nigel BennTKO1 (12), Aug 18, 1990 31Loss25–6 Michael Nunn12Aug 14, 1989 30Loss25–5 Roberto DuránSD12Feb 24, 1989 29Win25–4 Thomas HearnsTKO3 (12), Jun 6, 1988 28Win24–4 Michael OlajideTKO5 (10), Mar 6, 1988 27Win23–4 Sanderline WilliamsSD10Jan 29, 1988 26Loss22–4 Sumbu KalambayUD15Oct 23, 1987 25Win22–3 Jorge AmparoUD10Apr 3, 1987 24Win21–3 Stacy McSwainUD10Feb 20, 1987 23Win20–3 James KinchenSD10Oct 17, 1986 22Win19–3Basante BlancoRTD4 (10), Jul 24, 1986 21Win18–3 Tony HarrisonKO3 (12), Jun 19, 1986 20Win17–3 Mike TinleySD12Dec 6, 1985 19Win16–3 Wilford ScypionKO8 (10), Nov 1, 1985 18Win15–3 Norberto SabaterKO2 (10), Aug 29, 1985 17Win14–3 Bill LeeTKO3 (10), Aug 8, 1985 16Win13–3 Carlos BetancourtKO1 (10), Jul 11, 1985 15Win12–3 Randy SmithUD10May 24, 1985 14Win11–3 Norberto SabaterTKO2 (8), Apr 26, 1985 13Win10–3 Osley SilasTKO6 (8), Feb 21, 1985 12Loss9–3 Eddie Hall8Nov 1, 1984 11Win9–2 John FordTKO5 (8)Aug 23, 1984 10Win8–2 Esteban PizzarroUD8Jul 5, 1984 9Loss7–2 Robbie SimsTKO6 (10), Jan 6, 1984 8Win7–1 Marciano BernardiTKO1, Dec 15, 1983 7Win6–1 Frank MintonTKO5, Aug 18, 1983 6Win5–1 Jose TorresUD6Jun 18, 1983 5Loss4–1 Osley Silas6Mar 31, 1983 4Win4–0 Donnie Franklin4Feb 18, 1983 3Win3–0 Donnie WilliamsTKO1 (4), Jan 29, 1983 2Win2–0 Bruce Starling2 (4)Jan 6, 1983 1Win1–0 Larry Jordan2 (4)Dec 9, 1982
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 middleweight champion (160 lbs) (2×)
Honors and awards Barkley is a member of the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame.
See also List of boxing triple champions List of WBC world champions List of IBF super world champions List of WBA world champions
References
External links