Dave McAuley

David Anthony "Dave" McAuley, MBE (born 15 June 1961, Larne) is a British former professional boxer from Northern Ireland. During his professional career he held the IBF world title in the Flyweight category.'^[1]

Boxing career

He fought under the name Dave "Boy" McAuley, and was one of the last Irish boxers to fight for a world title over 15 rounds. His two epic fights against Fidel Bassa were both voted "Fight of the Year", in 1986 and 1987 respectively. McAuley was a superb boxer who showed perhaps more bravery than any other modern Irish fighter. Anyone that was privileged enough to watch the Bassa fights would have witnessed a boxing masterclass – McAuley hauled himself off the canvas to go on and give Bassa the fright of his life. He finally defeated Duke McKenzie for the IBF title . He defended his recognised IBF World Title and became the most successful Irish fighter post-war with a recognised IBF World Title.

Among his most famous bouts were two brutal encounters with Colombian Fidel Bassa at Belfast's King's Hall. In 1989 McAuley won the IBF title from Duke McKenzie. He successfully defended his title five times, eventually losing it to Rodolfo Blanco in 1992, whom he had beaten two years previously.^[2]

McAuley was unusual for a flyweight in that he was extremely tall for someone in the flyweight division, standing at 5'7". He was one of the Irelands most under-rated boxers, and was poorly treated by various promoters and media after his loss to Blanco.

Broadcasting career

McAuley now works as a commentator for Irish television station Raidió Teilifís Éireann on their boxing coverage.

Comeback

McAuley was almost tempted out of retirement on more than one occasion, right up to the mid-1990s. He was rumoured for a comeback fight with Prince Naseem Hamed, for which he has stated, "I will fight anyone for the right price".

Poker

McAuley recently took part in a celebrity boxing poker tournament organised by partypoker.com however being an amateur in this sport was put out first after going "all in" with ace two off suit. In 2009, he was back in Poker Super Stars and got through to the final table in London.

Other activities

Dave Boy is also a pro bull rider as he demonstrated on Children in Need. He currently runs a hotel in Ballygalley, near Larne, County Antrim.

Professional boxing record

18 Wins (8 knockouts), 3 losses, 2 draws[1]
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	18–3–2	Rodolfo Blanco	UD	12 (12)	1992-6-11	Sports Pavilion, Bilboa, Pais Vasco, Spain	IBF flyweight title
Win	18–2–2	Jacob Matlala	KO	10 (12)	1991-9-7	Maysfield Leisure Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Retained IBF flyweight title
Win	17–2–2	Pedro Jose Feliciano	UD	12 (12)	1991-5-11	Maysfield Leisure Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Retained IBF flyweight title
Win	16–2–2	Rodolfo Blanco	UD	12 (12)	1990-9-15	King's Hall Belfast, Northern Ireland	Retained IBF flyweight title
Win	15–2–2	Louis Curtis	UD	12 (12)	1990-3-17	King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Retained IBF flyweight title
Win	14–2–2	Dodie Boy Penalosa	SD	12 (12)	1989-11-8	Grand Hall, Wembley, London, UK	Retained IBF flyweight title
Win	13–2–2	Duke McKenzie	UD	12 (12)	1989-6-7	The Arena, Wembley, London, UK	Won IBF flyweight title
Loss	12–2–2	Fidel Bassa	UD	12 (12)	1988-3-26	King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland	WBA World flyweight title
Win	12–1–2	Roy Thompson	PTS	10 (10)	1987-12-7	Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Loss	11–1–2	Fidel Bassa	TKO	13 (15)	1987-4-25	King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland	WBA World flyweight title
Win	11–0–2	Joe Kelly	TKO	9 (12)	1986-10-20	St. Andrews SC, Albany Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland	British flyweight title
Win	10–0–2	Charlie Brown	TKO	1 (8)	1986-4-22	Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Win	9–0–2	Kelvin Smart	DQ	6 (8)	1986-2-15	RDS Arena, Dublin, Ireland	Low blow
Win	8–0–2	Bobby McDermott	TKO	10 (10)	1985-6-8	Loftus Road, London, UK
Win	7–0–2	Johnny Mack	TKO	1 (8)	1985-2-3	King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Win	6–0–2	Graham 'Kid' Clarke	TKO	4 (6)	1984-12-19	Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Win	5–0–2	Dave George	TKO	6 (8)	1984-11-13	Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Win	4–0–2	John Mwaimu	PTS	6 (6)	1984-10-13	King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Win	3–0–2	Roy Williams	PTS	6 (6)	1984-9-17	Corn Exchange, Brighton, Sussex, UK
Draw	2–0–2	Kenny Walsh	PTS	6 (6)	1984-2-27	Albany Hotel, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK
Win	2–0–1	Ian Colbeck	PTS	6 (6)	1984-1-25	King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Win	1–0–1	Dave Smith	KO	1 (6)	1983-11-16	King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Draw	0–0–1	John Mwaimu	PTS	6 (6)	1983-10-5	Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Professional debut

See also

• List of Irish sportspeople

References