Patrick Gerard Barnes (born 9 April 1987) is an Irish former boxer who competed as an amateur from 2005 to 2016 and as a professional from 2016 to 2019. As an amateur he competed in the light-flyweight division, representing Ireland at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympics; winning bronze medals in Beijing and London, and represented Northern Ireland at the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games; winning a gold medal apiece at the two events. As a professional, he challenged for the WBC flyweight title in 2018.
Early life Barnes began boxing aged 11. He later joined the East Coast Boxing club. Barnes had an amateur record of 2-19 after his first 21 fights Aged 16, he joined Holy Family ABC in Belfast.
Amateur career
2007 | European Union Amateur Championships In 2007, Barnes competed at the EU Championships in Dublin. He had his medal hopes crushed however when he suffered an eye injury. With bleeding found behind his retina, Barnes was forced out of the competition.
2007 | World Amateur Championships At the World Championships in Chicago Barnes missed out on a bronze medal after he was defeated by China's Zou Shiming in the quarter-finals, Zou went on to win the gold medal.
However, Barnes qualified for the 2008 Olympics by virtue of getting to the quarter-finals. 1st round – defeated Choi Jon Chuk North Korea 33–19 Round of 32 – defeated Sadegh Zade Faraj Iran 30–10 (RSCO) Round of 16 – defeated Kenji Ohkubo Japan 24–6 Quarter final – lost to Zou Shiming China 8–22
2008 | European Union Amateur Championships In 2008, Barnes returned to EU Championships, this time in Cetniewo, Poland.
Barnes made it to the final where he lost to Hungarian fighter Pál Bedák. The silver medal was enough to secure his place at the Summer Olympics.
2008 | Olympic Games Barnes won Ireland's inaugural medal, at the 2008 Summer Olympics, by winning his quarter final bout in the light flyweight division. Barnes won a bronze medal after he was defeated in a second match with Shiming Zou in the semi-final, in a match where replays showed some of Barnes landed punches counted as points for Zou. Round of 32 – bye Round of 16 – defeated José Luis Meza 14–8 Quarter final – defeated Łukasz Maszczyk 11–5 Semi-final – lost to Zou Shiming 0–15
2010 | European Amateur Championships On 12 June 2010, Barnes won the gold medal in the light flyweight division at the 2010 European Amateur Boxing Championships. Barnes, a 4–1 winner over Azerbaijan's Elvin Mamishzade, was 1–0 up at the end of the first round, 3–1 ahead at the end of the second and sealed the victory with a final point in the third for 4–1.
2010 | Commonwealth Games Barnes represented Northern Ireland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He won the gold medal, defeating Namibia's Jafet Uutoni 8–4 in the final. Round of 16 – defeated Iain Butcher 4–2 Quarter final – defeated Andrew Moloney 5–3 Semi final – defeated Amandeep Singh 5–0 Final – defeated Jafet Uutoni 8–4
2012 | Olympic Games
At the 2012 Summer Olympics he defeated Thomas Essomba from Cameroon 15–10 then beat India's Devendro Singh in his quarter-final bout to guarantee himself at least another bronze medal. In doing so, he became the inaugural Irish boxer to win medals at two consecutive Summer Olympics.
For the semi-final, Barnes once again drew Chinese superstar Zou Shiming, who had defeated Barnes in the 2008 semi-finals before taking gold. Barnes gave a fearless performance against the three time World champion, with the judges tying them 15–15 on the scorecards, only for Barnes to lose via a 45–44 countback. Shiming once again went on to win gold. Round of 16 – defeated Thomas Essomba 15–10 Quarter final – defeated Devendro Singh 23–18 Semi-final – lost to Zou Shiming 15–15 / 44–45 (CB)
2014 | Commonwealth Games As captain of the Northern Ireland boxing team in 2014 at Glasgow, Barnes led the way by winning gold in the flyweight division defeating India's Devendro Singh. It was the first time a Northern Irish boxer had successfully defended a Commonwealth title.
The tournament was held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. 17 boxers from 17 nations took part.
After the competition, Barnes accepted an honour, the MBE, in the 2015 New Year Honours, for services to boxing and the community in Northern Ireland.2015 New Year Honours List
2015 | World Series of Boxing Barnes competed in the WSB for the 2014–2015 season. Along with Michael Conlan, he was drafted by Italia Thunder. His first fight came against Magomed Ibiyev of the Baku Fires, in Baku. Barnes won with a 49–46, 49–46, 50–44 unanimous decision.
His second fight was another win, this time over Anthony Ortiz as Italia Thunder met the Puerto Rico Hurricanes. The judges scored it 48–47, 49–46, 49–46 as Barnes took another unanimous decision win.PALERMO WSB DOUBLE FOR BARNES AND CONLAN – Irish Athletic Boxing Association . Iaba.ie (31 January 2015); retrieved 25 August 2016.
The Hussars of Poland were next up, in Konin. Barnes continued his perfect start to the season with a landslide 50–45, 50–43, 50–45 victory over Sebastien Jagodzinski.Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlon win in Poland, Rte.ie; retrieved 25 August 2016.
His record for the season went to four wins with four unanimous decisions, when he defeated Kazakh fighter Temirtas Zhussupoy of the Astana Arlans in Kazakhstan.Murphy, Darragh. (28 February 2015) Mixed fortunes in WSB as Paddy Barnes continues streak while Mick Conlan tastes defeat, sportsjoe.ie; retrieved 25 August 2016. His next fight was in Maiquetia, with a split decision win over Caciques de Venezuela's Finol Rivas. The judges scored the bout 49–45, 49–45, 47–48 in favour of Barnes.Barnes and Conlan book places at Rio 2016, Rte.ie; retrieved 25 August 2016.
2016 | Olympic Games Barnes was also chosen to be the bearer of the Flag of Ireland Tricolour at the 2016 Summer Olympics, something that Barnes considered an "incredible honour".Rio 2016 Olympics: Paddy Barnes will be Ireland's flag bearer at Games – BBC Sport. Bbc.com (27 April 2016). Retrieved on 2016-08-25. At the 2016 Summer Olympics Barnes was defeated 2–1 by Samuel Carmona in the round of 16.
Provincial and National Titles Barnes lost the Ulster title in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He faced Jimmy Moore from Limerick in each of his national finals being runner up in 2006 but winning the All-Ireland title in 2007 and 2008.
World Series of Boxing record
ResultRecordTeamOpponent (Team)TypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes6Win5–1Italia Thunder Yoel Finol (Caciques de Venezuela)SD518 Apr 2015 Maiquetia, Venezuela5Win4–1Italia Thunder Temirtas Zhussupov (Astana Arlans)UD528 Feb 2015 Almaty, Kazakhstan4Win3–1Italia Thunder Sebastien Jagodzinski (Hussars of Poland)UD513 Feb 2015 Konin, Poland3Win2–1Italia Thunder Anthony Ortiz (Puerto Rico Hurricanes)UD531 Jan 2015 Palermo, Italy2Win1–1Italia Thunder Magomed Ibiyev (Baku Fires)518 Jan 2015 Baku, Azerbaijan1Loss0–1Italia Thunder Mohamed Flissi (Algeria Desert Hawks)513 Mar 2014 Algiers, Algeria
Professional career
Barnes vs. Slavchev After his amateur success, Barnes turned professional and made his debut as a bantamweight against Stefan Slavchev on 5 November 2016. Slavchev lifted Barnes into the air during the fourth round, so Barnes won the bout via disqualification.
Barnes vs. Rosales On 18 August 2018, Barnes challenged Cristofer Rosales for his WBC world flyweight title. Barnes got off to a fast start, but was introduced to Rosales' power early in the first round. In the fourth round, Rosales caught Barnes with a vicious right-hand uppercut to the solar plexus. Barnes fell on the canvas and wasn't anywhere close to beating the count, which meant a KO victory for Rosales.
Barnes vs. Harris On 11 October 2019, Barnes faced Jay Harris. Barnes was dropped by his opponent both in round three and round four. The latter proved to be the final one, as Barnes was not able to beat the count, and Harris was awarded the KO victory.
Retirement In November 2019, Barnes announced his retirement from professional boxing.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes9Loss6–3 Jay HarrisKO4 (10), 11 Oct 2019 8Win6–2 Joel SanchezPTS63 Aug 2019 7Loss5–2 Oscar Mojica617 Mar 2019 6Loss5–1 Cristofer RosalesKO4 (12), 18 Aug 2018 5Win5–0 Eliecer Quezada6 (10), 18 Nov 2017 4Win4–0 Juan HinostrozaPTS66 Oct 2017 3Win3–0 Silviu Olteanu1017 Jun 2017 2Win2–0 Adrian Dimas Garzon610 Mar 2017 1Win1–0 Stefan Slavchev4 (6), 5 Nov 2016
Marriage Barnes and Mari Burns, parents of two daughters, wed in July 2017 at St Bernard's Catholic Church, north Belfast. Barnes is also an Irish Speaker, and received a Silver Fáinne in 2019.
References
External links
Irish Times interview: Barnes not pulling any punches , 24 July 2012 Profile, marypeterstrust.org; accessed 5 January 2018. Paddy Barnes - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live