Iran Barkley

Iran Barkley and Pamela Graham: A Boxer Marries His Champ.

The comeback of Iran Barkley began five years ago at a nightclub in the South Bronx, a short jog from the gang-infested neighborhood where he first learned to use his fists. It was a skill that would eventually help him earn three world boxing titles and what he estimated to be more than $5 million.

Seated across the bar that February evening in 2010 was Pamela Graham, a widow from Brooklyn with five children whose interests did not include sports.

“A friend of mine said, ‘Hey, the champ is staring at you,’” Ms. Graham, 47, said of the incident. “I was like, ‘The champ? The champ of what? Who’s the champ?’”

She looked up and made brief eye contact with Mr. Barkley.

“I saw this handsome guy staring at me, but he wasn’t smiling,” Ms. Graham said. “He seemed very, very angry.”

Indeed, Mr. Barkley had little reason to smile. Twice divorced, he had squandered his fortune on lavish parties, fancy cars and bad investments.

After a bruising 19-year career in which he finished with a record of 43 victories — 28 by knockouts — 19 losses and 1 draw, Mr. Barkley also suffered from symptoms associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease found in athletes and others with a history of repetitive brain trauma. “I go out sometimes and forget what it is I was going out to do,” he said. “I get kind of confused.”

Yet he was focused enough that night to notice how pretty Ms. Graham looked. “But I was in a bad way, and I couldn’t wipe the scowl off my face,” he said. “I wasn’t capable of loving.”

Ms. Graham, whose husband died of cancer three years earlier and who had just ended a one-year relationship she described as filled with verbal and psychological abuse, said she was “not exactly in the mood to give love another try.”

But she was in a playful mood that night as she celebrated a friend’s birthday, and decided to walk up to Mr. Barkley and introduce herself. (“I think the alcohol gave me the courage,” she said jokingly.)

When his response came in the form of a meanspirited grunt, his scowl still intact, Ms. Graham blindsided the former champ with a clever combination of humor and sarcasm.

“Don’t you ever smile?” she said. “Come on, punk, are you going to take me out on that dance floor, or is the champ afraid to tell me that he doesn’t know how to dance?”

The scowl was replaced, albeit temporarily, by a quizzical smile.

“I was like, who the heck is this?” Mr. Barkley said. “She definitely got my attention.”

They danced for several minutes before returning to the bar, where they chatted over drinks.

“We spoke mostly about where we grew up, our kids and how life can be a real challenge,” said Mr. Barkley, 55, who has four daughters. “She was listening to everything I told her with a genuine look of concern on her face, so I knew I was sitting with a good-hearted person.”

From where she sat, Ms. Graham had a similar view.

“Iran first told me that night that things weren’t going so well for him,” she said. “But as we began to get deeper in conversation, I could tell that there was a loving, caring and very kind person trapped beneath all of the drama.”

“My mom told me she was going out with this really nice guy who made her laugh,” said Anthony Pugh, 28, one of Ms. Graham’s four sons. “He was a nice guy and he made her laugh. That’s all that mattered to her because that’s what had been missing from her life.”

By now, Ms. Graham was ready to give love another chance.

“I loved how polite and respectful Iran was toward me,” she said. “He treated me the way a gentleman should treat a lady. He adores me. He makes me feel complete.”

Mr. Barkley, who said that Ms. Graham “is unlike any woman I have ever met,” credits her with permanently removing his long-worn scowl.

“My whole life, I was surrounded by takers, but Pam is a giver,” he said. “She gives from the heart and never asks for anything in return. She gives me reason to smile.”

Mr. Barkley, who has his own apartment again in the Bronx, now earns a living training young fighters at various gyms around New York. That job was created by Ms. Graham, who has also taken on the role of his business manager, recruiting potential clients and putting together his training schedule.

She also accompanies him to doctors’ appointments, and makes sure he faithfully takes the medicine prescribed for his neurological condition. She was also by his side, in her familiar role as a patient caretaker, when he was hospitalized in October 2014 after a minor stroke brought on by stress.

“I’m blessed to have her in my life,” Mr. Barkley said.

They were married Nov. 7 in an outdoor ceremony at the Marina del Rey in the Bronx on a warm, cloudy afternoon, in front of 210 guests who had spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline and the Throgs Neck and Whitestone bridges standing over calm waters.

“This is an amazing day for two people who turned each other’s lives around,” said Mia Barkley, 24, one of Mr. Barkley’s daughters. “They are both very happy, which wasn’t the case before they met.”

Ms. Graham wore an ivory lace Vera Wang gown with a matching veil, while Mr. Barkley had a gray Vera Wang tuxedo with an ivory-colored vest. As they exchanged their vows, he bounced around nervously on black leather Converse sneakers (“The old-school Chuck Taylors,” he said proudly), which were also worn by some of the younger ushers in a wedding party made up of 18 family members and close friends, including Ms. Cain-Bowles, who was matron of honor.

“Iran is easygoing, spiritual and understanding,” Ms. Cain-Bowles said. “He gives Pam the peace of mind that she never had. And she has given him new energy, a new sense of purpose.”

As Ms. Graham walked down the aisle to Leela James’s “Fall for You,” Mr. Barkley, waiting for her in front of a large white gazebo wrapped in a purple bow, wiped tears from his eyes.

“It’s a new day,” said the Rev. Quinton Massey, a Baptist minister who took part in a ceremony led by Efrain Alvarado, an acting justice of the State Supreme Court in the Bronx.

“God help them let the past go, so that the past will not be stumbling blocks in their lives,” Mr. Massey said, as the sun began to break through the clouds.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/fa...imageslideshow

OK Bill.

Barkley's in two of my favourite ever fights. Unfortunately on the losing end in both - Duran and Benn.

It really is a nice story and I wanted to add pictures. Iran looked happy and content which I thought was worth sharing.

Right after the wedding, he forgot he was married.

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Originally Posted by Sleepwalker

Right after the wedding, he forgot he was married.

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That is cruel. The man has deserves happiness in his life.

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Originally Posted by Master

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Originally Posted by Sleepwalker

Right after the wedding, he forgot he was married.

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That is cruel. The man has deserves happiness in his life.

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Yeah, I'm still mad at him landing that lucky punch against Hearns

It is ashame but that loss to the 38 year old Duran really defines him for me and a lot of others.

Say the name Iran Barkl... And before you have finished saying his name I'm already shaking my head that he lost.

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Originally Posted by Vendettos

It is ashame but that loss to the 38 year old Duran really defines him for me and a lot of others.

Say the name Iran Barkl... And before you have finished saying his name I'm already shaking my head that he lost.

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He was more that just the Duran fight, he beat Hearns twice, Olajedi, Darren Van Horn.

I hope the best for him. The win over Barkley made me a believer in James Toney. Iran got taken to school in that fight. It's a shame he only made 5 million in his career. A fighter will be lucky to take home 40% of that.

Great idea for some rewatch material as we're still in a live fight drought. Barkley always comes off as just raw truth and down to earth, one of the foulest scowls the ring has seen. I have always loved the Van Horn fight. Iran was brought in as a near blind and recycled door mat and then proceeded to brutalize Van Horn in short order. Pillar to post. Still think he could have easily received the nod over Nunn who left the arena in need of fumigation. Hope he's found some happiness, the man has battled legends.

He did have a world class scowl. Almost Grand Ayatollah level.

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Originally Posted by Kirkland Laing

He did have a world class scowl. Almost Grand Ayatollah level.

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He was definitely scary and I was scared he would batter James Toney.