39 years ago

Date: 28th September 1985

Title: WBA World Featherweight Title

Promoter: Barney Eastwood

Tv: BBC

Barry McGuigan
( 27 - 1 - 0 )
Weight: 125 1/4 lbs

Bernard Taylor
( 33 - 0 - 1 )
Weight: 125 1/2 lbs

Barry McGuigan and Bernard Taylor went head to head for the WBA World Featherweight Title on 28th September 1985 at the Kings Hall in Belfast. The fight was being promoted by Barney Eastwood and the referee was Isidro Rodriguez. The fight was also broadcast live on BBC.

The challenger, Bernard Taylor, entered the fight with an impressive record of 33-0-1, ranked No. 1 at featherweight by the WBA. This was Taylor's second attempt at winning the WBA Featherweight Championship, having fought a fifteen-round draw against then-champion Eusebio Pedroza in 1982. When Taylor first got on the scale at the official weigh-in, he was twelve ounces over the 126-pound featherweight limit, but he managed to lose the weight in time and weighed in at 125½ pounds.

The Kings Hall was packed with 7,000 fans and the atmosphere was electric. The Associated Press reported that Taylor started confidently and controlled the fight for the first three rounds with his hit-and-run tactics. However, as the fight progressed, McGuigan started to turn the tables and became more aggressive, peppering Taylor with fierce left hooks and uppercuts to the ribs and head. In the seventh and eighth rounds, McGuigan delivered his hallmark body punching, which visibly weakened the challenger.

McGuigan, who had a record of 27-1-0 going into the fight, continued to dominate and in the end, Taylor's corner stopped the fight after the eighth round, giving McGuigan the victory and retaining his WBA World Featherweight Title.