Was Barry McGuigan ever world champion? I'm A Celebrity star's boxing record and the tragic fight that haunts him

Irish boxing legend Barry McGuigan is still delighting viewers on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! with fans taking to his sense of humour and lighthearted approach.

The 63-year-old is in the famous jungle alongside the likes of Coleen Rooney, Strictly star Oti Mabuse and McFly singer Danny Jones and has quickly become a fan favourite, with many viewing him as a granddad figure within the camp.

But at the peak of his career, McGuigan was a fearsome fighter known as the 'Clones Cyclone' and holds an impressive record, winning 32 of his 35 fights before retiring in 1989. All but four of those wins came by knockout, while he went on a 27-bout winning streak between 1981 and 1986.

As an amateur, he represented Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton in 1978 and Ireland at the Moscow Olympics two years later. Hailing from County Monaghan in Ireland, he became a UK citizen so he could compete for British titles.

At professional level, McGuigan became world featherweight champion in 1985 by beating Eusebio Pedroza of Panama and held that title until the following year, when he lost to American fighter Steve Cruz in Nevada.

His first major title, however, came in 1983 when he won the vacant British featherweight title, while he added the vacant European belt to his collection later that same year. He would hold these until 1985, the same year he was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Two decades later, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Unsurprisingly, he still carries the physical scars of his career today, with the bone in his nose being replaced by plastic having been broken so many times.

But McGuigan is also haunted by the memory of one tragic bout that took place in 1982, when he fought Nigerian boxer Young Ali at London's Grosvenor Hotel. The Irishman won by a knockout in six rounds, but Ali then collapsed and fell into a coma.

The 21-year-old was flown back to Lagos on life support, but died in hospital six months later, having never met his newborn child. The tragedy left McGuigan utterly devastated and he has since admitted that he was affected to such a degree that he considered walking away from boxing altogether.

Reflecting on the tragic fight in his autobiography 'Cyclone', he wrote: "'I came out for that round thinking, right, I am going to go and get him now. I stepped up and began to set about him. This time, Ali started to wilt and I hit him with the long right hand, right on the nose.

"I had hit him with a couple beforehand and he was starting to go so I went bom, bom… Bam! I hit him and the reaction was incredible. His head swung around and he just fell down.'

As he recalled Ali not getting up, even after the count, he added: "The doctors were in there immediately, they didn't have paramedics or stretchers in those days. They crowded over for three or four minutes, I was beginning to wonder what was going on.'

'I remember someone coming over to me and saying, "This kid, this kid is badly hurt. I couldn't believe it. 'You must be joking' I replied. 'No' he said, 'he's very badly hurt'. I just thought, 'oh my God.'"

"'Everyone thought I was a nice kid," McGuigan said. "People liked me, yet here I was, having almost killed somebody, and it was all legal and above board.

"What must people have thought of me? I found myself asking why it happened to Ali and not me. I went to church and prayed a lot," he continued, adding: "'It's something I'll struggle with for the rest of my life."

After Ali's death, McGuigan successfully campaigned for new safety measures to be introduced at boxing matches and, less than three years later, dedicated his world title win to the late Nigerian fighter, breaking down in tears on live TV.

"It was an important moment, simple as that, and I was hugely emotional," he said. "It meant a lot to me that at the moment of my biggest victory, I was able to remember Young Ali in that way.'