6 days Ago By Emmanuella Ngimbi
Former boxing legend Barry McGuigan is set to enter the jungle after arriving in Australia on Monday ahead of I’m A Celebrity ...
Get Me Out of Here ’s series 24 premiere. The 63-year-old will be one of 10 celebrities to take on the bushtucker trials alongside Strictly ’s Oti Mabuse , Loose Women ’s Jane More and Corrie star Alan Halsall. Fans look forward to gaining insight into Barry’s personality after seeing him enjoy a successful sporting career.
Throughout his career, he won the British, European, and World Titles, and was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1985. However, this could not have been the case after a traumatic fight with his opponent Young Ali in 1982. Barry revealed that he almost quit the sport entirely after Young died six months after slipping into a coma following their traumatic match.
After the Irish athlete won the knockout in the sixth round, his Nigerian opponent didn’t regain consciousness and this left a devastating impact on Barry. Speaking on the Gary Newborn Sports Show, he shared: “I was thinking about him 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.” The fighter stated: “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.
” Outside of his career, Barry lived a lavish life at his family home in Buckinghamshire, where he and his wife raised four children. Barry and his wife Sandra Mealiff's relationship first sparked during their youth and as childhood sweethearts, they got married in 1981. Although no details about her weddings had been reported, their marriage took place when Barry was 20 years old, showing the couple's deep commitment to each other from a young age.
Together they raised four children, sons Shane, Jake, and Blain, and a daughter Danika. Their daughter, nicknamed Nika, ventured into the acting industry, appearing on film and TV shows such as Wildfire (2020), Can't Cope, Won't Cope (2016), Traders (2015), and Philomena (2013). However, tragically Danika passed away at age 33, after a brief battle with cancer which was an aggressive return after overcoming leukemia as a child.
In 2019, Barry shared a moving tribute and penned: “The most difficult thing I've ever had to do was to say goodbye to my amazing daughter Nika earlier this week. "She has been a shining light in our family's lives for the past 33 years. He added: “Our hearts are broken and we know that life will never be the same again for us.
”.
