A well known commentator in Ireland has stirred up opinion for his thoughts about Barry McGuigan, the Hall of Fame fighter.

McGuigan is widely recognised to be one of the best Irish fighters of all time, and a very good world champion in his day.

After all, you don’t get into the Hall of Fame for no reason – which he was inducted into back in 2005.

McGuigan became the WBA and lineal featherweight champion at one time with a famous victory over Eusebio Pedroza in 1985 via unanimous points decision.

Well known sports and current affairs commentator Eamon Dunphy in Ireland doesn’t think his achievements were all that great however.

He credits McGuigan’s manager at the time for landing the him with significant opportunities and the real man behind the McGuigan success.

Here is the clip where Dunphy puts across his opinion that he doesn’t even think he was the best fighter at his weight:

McGuigan went on to defend his title twice after the Pedroza win, with two back to back TKO victories no less before surrendering the title in 1986 to American Steve Cruz.

He went on to have four more fights of which he won three by stoppage and lossed the final fight of his career inside the distance to Jim McDonnell in 1989.

His legacy goes far beyond what he accomplished in the ring however – famously uniting a divided Northern Ireland and Ireland at the time during significant troubles and been a global sports ambassador for his in the ring and outside the ring achievements.