FIGHTING BACK
Dark life of I’m a Celeb’s Barry McGuigan… from kidnap terror plot to tragic daughter & fatal fight that haunted career
The former world champion even once had to carry a gun around with him for his protection
HE'S had a hellish start to jungle life, but Barry McGuigan has seen off far tougher challenges.
From family tragedies to traumatising boxing bouts, the former world champion boxer, 63, has faced no end of heartache - both in and out of the ring.
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In fact, the Irish brawler, nicknamed The Clones Cyclone after his hometown of Clones, considered hanging up his gloves many times before he actually did.
This included after his tragic 1982 fight with Young Ali, who died after six months in a coma following the bout, and threats from Irish terrorist groups at the height of his career.
I'm a Celeb star Barry, who is a Catholic, also questioned his faith after losing his daughter Daniker to cancer when she was 33.
“I am having issues with God”, he told the Mail. “I lost my father at 52. My brother committed suicide at 34.
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“Now this. It’s horrendous. I dedicated my life to God. I believe I’m a good person. I am trying to reconcile this tragedy with the goodness of God.”
Here, we look back at the darkest chapters of Barry's life and how he has bravely overcome successive tragedies.
Fatal boxing match
It should have been one of the proudest moments of Barry’s career, as he won a match against Young Ali at the World Sporting Club in 1982.
But sadly the Nigerian never regained consciousness after being knocked out by him.
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Barry almost retired there and then - but three years later, going into the featherweight world champion match against Eusebio Pedroza, he made it his mission to win and dedicate his career to Ali.
And he managed to come out victorious, by unanimous decision.
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Reflecting on the run-up to the match, Barry said: “I was thinking about [Ali] all week and [I thought] if I win and I get over this hurdle then the first thing I’ve got to do is reflect back to that horrible night in 1982 where I had the tragic fight with the kid.
“After that I didn’t know if I wanted to box or not. If I can do this sort of damage to someone… it happens, but it’s such a tragedy and it's the one thing we as boxing fans don't want to ever happen again.
“But it happened before and it will happen again. I happened to be in a very unfortunate position but I wanted to dedicate the fight to him.”
He continued: “I was crying by the time I got round to mentioning his name because I was thinking about it and (presenter) Harry Carpenter was able to articulate what I was saying to the 19million people watching on the BBC.
“'It was a very sad time for me and at the pinnacle of my career I wanted to remember him. It was a really important time for me and that was a really important moment.”
Terrorist plots
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Originally from Clones, Ireland, Barry’s boxing career was soaring while The Troubles were at their worst.
But, although his grandfather had been an IRA captain in the 1920s, Barry always promoted peace and reconciliation.
He fought with a dove on his shorts, representing peace, and even sparked the slogan “Leave the Fighting to McGuigan”.
“It was important to make a statement of neutrality,” he told the Mirror.
Due to this political stance, he began to receive abuse from the IRA.
In his memoir, he recalls: ‘I was driving in a deeply partisan area of Ulster. I had to stop at a T-junction and there were half a dozen guys standing on the corner.
“It was a warm day and the car windows were open. As I started to move off one of them shouted, ‘You f**king Taig’. That’s a very insulting term for a Catholic.”
Barry got out of the car, and walked up to them.
“I told all six of them they were cowards. That if I knew who said it I would smash his face in," he said.
“Silence. I got back in the car and drove off. That was the first and only time.”
I miss my brother; he was such a great man. I don’t know if I will ever get over it
Barry McGuigan
But a more sinister threat on his life happened later, which led to him carrying a firearm, for his own protection.
“I was told there was a plot to kidnap me,” he said. “Security forces on both sides of the border were keeping an eye on me. It came at a time when people were disappearing and not long after the kidnapping of the racehorse Shergar.
“So I was issued with a gun and the police taught me how to shoot it.”
He added: “I couldn’t hit a barn door! I was terrible. It was really funny...but at the same time deadly serious. I had plain clothes police guys travelling with me everywhere for a while in case I was nabbed.
“My suspicion is it was all about ransom – attempting to raise money for terrorist activities. But I think the terrorists then realised that because of my popularity and non-political stance, kidnapping me had the potential to backfire.
“Perhaps that’s why – thank God – the threat never materialised. Now, when I look back at some of the things I did and the statements I was making, I was very lucky to come through it unscathed.”
Brother's sudden death
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Barry experienced more heartbreak in 1994 - when his older brother Dermot McGuigan tragically killed himself at the age of 35.
Dermot was a key part of Barry’s boxing career, having helped train him for world title fights, sparring with him at home.
In his book, he wrote: “I miss my brother; he was such a great man. I don’t know if I will ever get over it.
“I only wish there had been a way I could have helped Dermot more. I know I would have been the one who could have talked him down off the box that fateful day.
“I know that because he left only me and my mother a letter. To have to live with the fact I’ll never see him again is agonising.”
And last year, Barry paid tribute to his brother, with a touching post on X, sharing an old photo of the pair at a golfing event.
He wrote: “It’s 29 years since my dearly beloved brother Dermot RIP took his own life.
“Dermot would have been 64 today. He was a scratch golfer, an outstanding boxing coach and a great human being. Never forgotten brother.”
'Devastating' loss
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But the biggest heartbreak for Barry came in July 2019, when his daughter Nika died at the age of 33, just a month after being diagnosed with cancer.
He admitted on The Tommy Tiernan show: “I’ll never recover from that. That’s the most shocking thing – to lose your child is just... I lost my brother; he committed suicide at 34. My dad died at 52. My sister died just last year.
“And they’re all bad, and Dad was very difficult to get over and Dermot was particularly bad, but losing your child is just the most shocking thing.”
Barry and his wife Sandra’s only daughter was diagnosed with acute lymphoid leukaemia when she was 11 years old.
I'll never recover from [losing my daughter]. My life will go on but I’ll never be the same because family means everything to me
Barry McGuigan
After two years of treatment, she recovered and went on to become an actress, starring in The Secret Scripture alongside Rooney Mara.
But the cancer sadly returned years later, devastating Barry and Sandra - as well as their three sons.
In a statement, they said: "It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of our beautiful daughter and sister, Danika 'Nika' McGuigan.
“After a brief but brave battle against cancer, Nika passed away peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday 23 July, surrounded by her loving family.
“As a family we are devastated and ask for complete privacy during this difficult period to allow us to grieve for our Nika.”
Barry opened up about his grief in 2021, and confessed he’d have retired from boxing had he lost Nika during his career.
He told Belfast Live: “I lost my daughter two years ago and it’s been shocking. I'll never recover from it. My life will go on but I’ll never be the same because family means everything to me.
"She was such a great kid. She had a tough life all her life. She had fever convulsions at nine months; she was dead on arrival at the hospital and they got her heart going again; she had leukaemia at 11, they said she would never get through it and she got through it.
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"I get very upset about it. I try my best not to. I think, ‘I don’t want to cry again.’ But, yeah, tough. Very tough. If this had happened to me during my career, I could never have continued with that.
“I don’t know if I could have recovered from that as a fighter."
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