Iran the Blade Barkley,,How good was he?

Always liked the Blade
In his prime he was
Big. tough. mean. hit hard and had a ton of heart.
What he lacked in skill he made up in strength and toughness not to mention sheer determination
When I met him a few yrs ago he seemed very very feeble but friendly

 

Very! Kinchen, Tinley and Van Horn were tremendous wins. I had him beating Duran (GOAT) without the knockdown and if you favour aggression about drew with Nunn (P4P #1).

 

Great counter left hook. A bad mother.

 

He was also a great amateur. World medalist.

 

Iran Barkley grew up with and was close to Hector Camacho and also ofcourse Davey Moore.
The Blade had vowed to avenge Davey Moore who Duran had butchered years before. He tried, he gave a noble effort.

 

His greatest moment, and one of the great moments of the sport, was his ring interview post-Van Horn...

The interviewer asked him what he was going to do now that he won the title.

His response: "I'm gonna rob your house!"

 

I disagree. His best moment was pre fight interview (I forget which fight). He was asked what is your strategy and he said "Ima go in the ring, Ima knock him out".

 

It was then left for the Macho Man to avenge them both years later by twice beating Duran.

 

Always came prepared to KTFO his opponent.

Fun to watch.

Definitely underrated.

 

Hard as nails .a real tough guy .hope he's doing ok now.

 

He was living in a cardboard box in the Bronx a while ago after losing millions on The Strip

 

One of the great stories (not so much now) and characters of boxing. As a fighter he's probably overrated somewhat on the strength of the two Hearns wins which are if anything aberrations on both of their records. It did happen however so cannot be taken away. He's a good fighter tho, big, strong, powerful and durable with a helluva set of stones.

Very memorable fighter and character.

 

Was in the Black Spades with Mitch"Blood"Green as well.

 

Savage Skulls.

 

He was a guy who meant serious business in the ring. Always made for interesting fights regardless of the outcome.