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The confident Hearns continued with his attack of drilling left hooks to the body.

Although he was taking a severe beating, the challenger Barkley bravely punched back as the fight soon turned into a savage, bloody slugfest.īy the third round, both of Barkley’s eyes were bleeding and he had a cut on his lower lip. Barkley, the WBC middleweight champ, will be making the first defense of his new title.įor the first two rounds, Hearns looked very much the like the slated betting favorite he was, as he battered Barkley with crunching left hooks to the ribs and head, along with pile-driver left jabs and terrific right hands to the jaw and head. Original caption: New York: Two hit-men, Iran “The Blade” Barkley (right) and Roberto Duran, unlimber the tools of their trade during press conference to announce their bout in Atlantic City on February 24th. In fact, the only betting going on was on which round the power punching Hearns would KO the challenger who entered the ring a 4-1 underdog. The legendary Hearns earned $1.5 million, while Barkley pocketed $250,000.įew pundits gave Barkley a chance to win. The fight was broadcast over closed circuit and pay-per-view television. Then on Jbefore 8,541 fans at the Las Vegas Hilton, destiny beckoned Iran, as he bravely challenged the feared Thomas “Hit Man” Hearns for the fistic great’s WBC World Middleweight Championship. The slick Kalambay managed to box his way out of trouble and wound up winning the title on a close 15-round unanimous decision.ĭisappointed, but unfazed by the close loss, Barkley did not give up his quest for a World Championship and followed the Kalambay loss with impressive wins over middleweight challengers Sanderline Williams (W-10) and Michael Olajide (TKO-5). Now a top ranked contender, on October 23, 1987, Iran was eventually matched with Sumbu Kalambay for the vacant WBA World Middleweight Title at the Palazzo Dello Sport, in Livorno, Toscana, Italy.

Pinball hall of fame las vegas boxing professional#

In 1982, Barkley made a name for himself on the world stage when he won a Bronze Medal at the Copenhagen Box Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark, and then captured the Bronze Medal at the World Championships in Munich, West Germany.įollowing the World Championship, Iran decided to turn professional and KO’d Larry Jordan in two rounds at the Sands Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey on December 9, 1982.īarkley won 22 of his first 25 fights, including a spectacular 8th-round KO over middleweight contender Wilford Scypion on Novemat Madison Square Garden’s Felt Forum in New York City.

Iran Barkley (L) nailing Thomas “Hit Man” Hearns (R) with a left hook en route to capturing the WBA World Light Heavyweight title on March 20, 1992. That same year he won the Gold Medal at the Empire State Games. In 1981 he captured a Silver Medal at the New York Golden Gloves, losing in the finals to future middleweight challenger Dennis Milton. By the early 1980’s, Iran was one of the best amateur middleweights in the world. tall, Barkley was a well-muscled and imposing figure and was a natural pugilist. Just when it appeared that Barkley was on a collision course to jail or the morgue, his sister Yvonne, who fought professionally in the late 1970’s, suggested that the tough Iran take up boxing.Īt 6 ft. Besides Barkley, the Black Spades also had future heavyweight challenger Mitch “Blood” Green within its ranks. Young Iran, at first, was not much different being a full-fledged member of the Black Spades street gang. It was a tough place to grow up in and most wound up dead, imprisoned and in gangs. It was one of the largest New York City Housing Authority complexes in the city with 1,790 apartments situated throughout 15 buildings. Iran was born on May 6, 1960, the youngest of a home with eight children in the infamous Patterson Houses public development in the dangerous Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx. Fighting from middleweight all the way up to the big boys in the heavyweight division, Barkley not only gave his opponents a memorable beating, but many also left the ring either hurting badly or bleeding profusely after squaring off against the Bronx, New York native.

Story by JOSEPH RINALDI AND ALEXANDER RINALDIįrom the mid 1980’s into the 1990’s, one of the most feared fighters to ever climb through the ropes into the ring was Iran “The Blade” Barkley.