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Boxing

07th Feb 2015

Video: Barry McGuigan tells Gay Byrne about fighting on after the death of opponent in 1982

McGuigan tells Gay Byrne about his fight with Little Ali and the aftermath

Sean Nolan

RTE’s Meaning Of Life show speaks to Barry McGuigan this week

After all the coverage last week’s show with Stephen Fry got, we expect this week’s edition of The Meaning of Life to have lots of extra viewers.

If people do tune in they will see an interview with one of the most interesting Irish sports people ever, Barry McGuigan.

The Clones Cyclone remains a huge star thanks to his exploits in the ring in the 1980s and because of his stance against sectarianism at a febrile time in the history of this island.

We’re sure all of that will be covered in depth in the interview with Gay Byrne but today they have released a snippet where McGuigan speaks about an incident in 1982 when McGuigan fought a Nigerian called Little Ali. McGuigan knocked him out in the sixth round but Ali went into a coma and died five months later.

McGuigan talks about the impact of that on his life and how he decided to continue fighting.

You can watch the full interview on Sunday night, on RTE1 at 10.30.