‘Floyd Mayweather of football’ – My world champ uncle fought Roberto Duran and now I want to ruin Super Bowl history

Saquon Barkley is not the first man in his family to achieve sporting success on the worldwide stage. The Philadelphia Eagles running back has been running opponents into the ground all season. Barkley is in the form of his life going into the Super Bowl and is ready to bring more sporting success to the familyGetty One more dominant game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday will bring him a first Super Bowl title. But were it not for a seven-year-old Barkley falling in love with football in a Pop Warner league, he could have ended up making a living with his fists. His father, Alibay, fought in the Golden Gloves before suffering a shoulder injury to end his ring career. Great-uncle, Iran, made it further in the sweet science, winning belts across three weight classes — middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight. “Boxing was forced onto me,” Barkley told USA Today. “I truly, truly, truly believe that if I didn’t I didn’t fall in love with football, I would’ve ended up being a boxer.” Barkley’s introduction to football saw him play kids two years his senior in the Bronx. A brutal tackle on his first-ever carry loosened one of his baby teeth — it only made him run harder. “I got hit pretty hard,” he explained. “When they give you that one one-on-one, it’s personal. You’ve got to take advantage.” In that sense the running back position is as close as it comes to boxing, using intelligence and anticipation to find a gap in the opponent’s defense and then brute force to exploit it. Iran — now 64-years-old — fought 63 times in a pro career that ran from 1982 to 1999. Barkley will have his family watching, including his daughter, as he looks to finish what has been one of the best seasons in NFL history Barkley has records in his sights in the Super Bowl He won the WBC middleweight title off Tommy Hearns before losing it to Roberto Duran in his next fight. Hearns and Duran were two of the legendary Four Kings in the golden age of middleweight boxing alongside Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler. Other notable opponents were James ‘Lights Out’ Toney, Trevor Berbick whose loss to Mike Tyson saw him become the youngest ever heavyweight champion as well as Britain’s Nigel Benn. His running back coach at Penn State, Charles Huff, told the rest of the group to learn what they could from training with the Floyd Mayweather of college football. “His approach was different from a very early point,” Huff – now head coach at Southern Miss. “You’re able to challenge and push, which as a coach is what you want to be able to do. You’re able to use him as an example.” Read More on Super Bowl LIX All you need to know about Super Bowl LIX as Kansas City Chiefs battle Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans ‘Bigger than Taylor Swift’ – Illegal rentals, 26,000 hotel rooms and the $500m refit behind Super Bowl of Super Bowls Emotional Travis Kelce and brother Jason broke down in tears remembering mom Donna’s powerful Super Bowl cameo Secret meaning to ‘eight stars’ in NFL logo revealed as fans stunned before Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl Patrick Mahomes vs Tom Brady after first seven years as a starter reveals there’s only one winner in quarterback debate Who is performing the Super Bowl halftime show and who will be singing the National Anthem? FOLLOW – talkSPORT End Zone YouTube Channel brings you all the latest news, views and analysis OFFER – See all Super Bowl odds and bet boosts over at talkSPORT BET BUY HERE – Brewdog launches new beer to celebrate Super Bowl 2025 Barkley established himself as one of the best running backs in the NFL with the New York Giants. But the supporting cast was lacking and an offseason move to join the Eagles and run behind a formidable O-line has opened the floodgates. Barkley is just 30 yard shy of making history by shattering Terrell Davis’ record of 2,476 yards as he led the Denver Broncos to the Super Bowl title in 1998. He will surely hit that mark barring injury, but it is denying Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs their own chance at immortality. No team has ever won the Vince Lombardi Trophy three years in a row and Barkley is the Eagles’ best hope of ending that streak. Just like a champion boxer, the bruising runner only needs one chance to land a knockout blow, although if any team is renowned for its ability to climb off the canvas and win it’s Mahomes’ Chiefs. Whatever happens, the Giants will be punching themselves at letting their prized fighter join a rival promotion. Follow our brand new talkSPORT NFL page on Facebook as we bring you all the build-up to the Super Bowl, plus live coverage

Feb 5, 2025 - 02:37

‘Floyd Mayweather of football’ – My world champ uncle fought Roberto Duran and now I want to ruin Super Bowl history

Saquon Barkley is not the first man in his family to achieve sporting success on the worldwide stage.

The Philadelphia Eagles running back has been running opponents into the ground all season.

Barkley is in the form of his life going into the Super Bowl and is ready to bring more sporting success to the family

One more dominant game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday will bring him a first Super Bowl title.

But were it not for a seven-year-old Barkley falling in love with football in a Pop Warner league, he could have ended up making a living with his fists.

His father, Alibay, fought in the Golden Gloves before suffering a shoulder injury to end his ring career.

Great-uncle, Iran, made it further in the sweet science, winning belts across three weight classes — middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight.

“Boxing was forced onto me,” Barkley told USA Today. “I truly, truly, truly believe that if I didn’t I didn’t fall in love with football, I would’ve ended up being a boxer.”

Barkley’s introduction to football saw him play kids two years his senior in the Bronx.

A brutal tackle on his first-ever carry loosened one of his baby teeth — it only made him run harder.

“I got hit pretty hard,” he explained. “When they give you that one one-on-one, it’s personal. You’ve got to take advantage.”

In that sense the running back position is as close as it comes to boxing, using intelligence and anticipation to find a gap in the opponent’s defense and then brute force to exploit it.

Iran — now 64-years-old — fought 63 times in a pro career that ran from 1982 to 1999.

Barkley will have his family watching, including his daughter, as he looks to finish what has been one of the best seasons in NFL history

Barkley has records in his sights in the Super Bowl

He won the WBC middleweight title off Tommy Hearns before losing it to Roberto Duran in his next fight.

Hearns and Duran were two of the legendary Four Kings in the golden age of middleweight boxing alongside Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler.

Other notable opponents were James ‘Lights Out’ Toney, Trevor Berbick whose loss to Mike Tyson saw him become the youngest ever heavyweight champion as well as Britain’s Nigel Benn.

His running back coach at Penn State, Charles Huff, told the rest of the group to learn what they could from training with the Floyd Mayweather of college football.

“His approach was different from a very early point,” Huff – now head coach at Southern Miss.

“You’re able to challenge and push, which as a coach is what you want to be able to do. You’re able to use him as an example.”