Jackie Fullerton reports for Good Evening Ulster on the
trauma for the Irish sporting public of Barry McGuigan, the Clones Cyclone,
losing his world title in June 1986. McGuigan had been one of the poster boys
for a wave of Irish sporting success in the first half of the decade.
Originally from Co Monaghan, one of the three Ulster counties in the Republic
of Ireland, he based his career in Northern Ireland and was embraced by
Irishmen of all shades everywhere.
His
rise through the ranks of boxing to become world champion was one of the
feelgood sporting stories of the time but his period at the zenith was cut
short by the decision to fight outside his comfort zone in the blistering
summer desert heat of Las Vegas. This was compounded when the opponent he had
prepared to fight against had to withdraw a few weeks before the fight. The
report shows the wilting McGuigan in the last round of the fight being knocked
down and then, totally exhausted, being stretchered out of the venue while his
manager, Barney Eastwood, is left to face the press.