Punching power- 9 out of 10 Overall skills - 7.25 out of 10 Chin- 8.5 out of 10 ( in his prime ) More of a fighter than a boxer really
One of my favorite fighters. I think he deserved the win against Duran. I think nunn edged their fight, but if he had gotten the decision against those 2 plus the 2 wins over Tommy hearns that's a hall of famer resume. Mostly though I think of him as a fighter who fought exciting fights.
Kinda tricky to define a fighter as "elite" or not... I would rather define Barkley as a "true contender" IMO Barkley was very, very good, and sometimes he showed sparks of elite, but ultimately lacked consistency and endurance to be considered "true elite" .... however, he was an extremely competitive and dangerous boxer all the same.
Barkley was a boxer who fought at world class against all odds because in most part he had tremendous heart and will to succeed where others would have quit. Its a testament to his belief in himself that he was able to achieve what he did. I remember a certain management team actually let Barkley out of his contract because honestly they thought he wasn't going anywhere and he got hit too much. Barkley hit hard but not Julian Jackson hard. He was always in good condition and he had a granite chin in his prime. But what people nowadays mess up is Barkley's place in boxing. He wasn't in the elite category by any means and that's no a knock on him at all. He wasn't close to the Fab Four. But with Barkley when you signed to fight him he is coming to fight and he will lay it all on the line - that's what what made him dangerous.
Barkley was a warrior .always in good shape always dangerous. A hard fight for any middle weight in history
I was a fan of his when he was fighting. I always thought he was an "underdog" type fighter that I rooted for. Fought all the best, lost to most of them, but he beat the "Hitman" twice! I remember Hearns doing a lot of talking before the rematch, Barkley won again and I was happy for him. Tough spoiler who fought everyone, was gutsy and humble, maybe a step down from the "A" level fighters, but could compete against the best and give any one of them a tough close fight. Managed a few upsets in his career and had Tommy Hearns' number.
Absolute solid pro. Good jab, good body puncher, good power, solid chin. Kind of crude but had big heart. Only times I thought he was out of his league were against Nunn & Toney. Bad matches style wise.
When he fought James Toney in 1992 at 168lbs at the time I was rooting for Toney. I was more of a Toney fan but looking back now it's sad that fight ever happened. I don't thaink that was even 70% of Iran at his best. He appeared to be blind. He had to touch his opponent to know where he was his vision had deteriorated. James gave him a vicious beating that probably made him look a little better than he was. Toney had problems of his own. Barkley I believe would have given Toney a good fight at 160lbs at his prime years. Certainly not the way that one went.
He had a detached retina in one eye and the other eye swelled up! Poor b*stard….his chance was to break Toney’s hand with a headbutt, but too blind to do that even.
