Category profile
- Dominance
- 80
- Peak
- 92
- Longevity
- 68
- Honours
- 78
- Statistics
- 86
Career timeline · Form index per season
| Season | Form index per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 8 | |
| 1982 | 7 | |
| 1983 | 6 | |
| 1984 | 5 | |
| 1985 | 4 | |
| 1986 | 2 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
| 1988 | 2 |
Data sources
- BoxRec
- IBHOF
- The Ring
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Barry McGuigan ranks #117 in Boxing
Barry McGuigan ranks 117th among Boxing athletes on GOAT Rank and 1036th of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 80.5 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 80, Peak 92, Longevity 68, Honours 78, Statistics 86. Those categories are normalised against the full Boxing reference universe of 267 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1981–1989 with 8 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1981, which sets the Peak component at 92. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 92 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes world titles 1, professional wins 32, career knockouts 28, professional bouts 35.
Immediately ahead sits Earnie Shavers on 80.6, a gap of 0.1 points. Directly behind is Natasha Jonas on 80.4. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Barry McGuigan GOAT Score explained
- Dominance80/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far McGuigan stood above the field while competing. Scored 80/100 against the full Boxing cohort.
- Peak92/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1981. Scored 92/100.
- Longevity68/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 8 years of competition and 8 recorded seasons. Scored 68/100.
- Honours78/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 78/100.
- Statistics86/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 86/100.
Top McGuigan comparisons
Barry McGuigan — frequently asked
- Is Barry McGuigan the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Barry McGuigan ranks 117th in Boxing with a GOAT Score of 80.5, behind Sugar Ray Robinson on 94.3.
- What is Barry McGuigan's GOAT Score?
- 80.5 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 80 (25%), Peak 92 (20%), Longevity 68 (20%), Honours 78 (20%), Statistics 86 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Barry McGuigan rank all time?
- 1036th of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 117th within Boxing.
- Barry McGuigan vs Earnie Shavers: who ranks higher?
- Earnie Shavers, on 80.6 against Barry McGuigan's 80.5 — a margin of 0.1 points.