Barry McGuigan: Two firms linked to boxer to be liquidated

Barry McGuigan (left) was a director of Cyclone Promotions, which included Carl Frampton in its stable

Two companies linked to former boxing champion Barry McGuigan are to be liquidated following a meeting of their creditors.

Cyclone Promotions Ltd and McGuigans Gym Ltd, both have registered addresses in Newry, County Down.

McGuigan, from Clones in County Monaghan, became World Featherweight Champion in 1985.

He was involved in a multi-million-pound legal dispute over earnings with Belfast boxer Carl Frampton in 2020.

Frampton sued McGuigan and his boxing promotion firm Cyclone Promotions for alleged withheld earnings, while McGuigan counter-sued Frampton for alleged breach of contract.

Both men denied the respective allegations against them.

The case was eventually settled out of court and the terms of their settlement were not publicly disclosed.

During his professional career, McGuigan was known as the Clones Cyclone.

After he retired from the ring, he moved into boxing promotion along with several members of his immediate family.

McGuigan, his wife Sandra and their three sons were involved in the running of Cyclone Promotions Ltd while McGuigans Gym Ltd was run by the couple and their son Shane.

However, most of the family have since resigned from the firms - only Sandra McGuigan is currently listed as a director of both companies.

Barry McGuigan with his wife Sandra McGuigan at an awards ceremony in December 2023

Last month, she placed public notices in the press advising creditors of meetings in London to consider the firms' statements of affairs.

The notices also proposed appointing a liquidation committee to both companies "if the creditors think fit".

In a statement to the Belfast Telegraph, Thomas O'Keefe of insolvency practitioners Antony Batty & Company LLP said: "I can confirm that McGuigan's Gym Ltd and Cyclone Promotions Ltd were placed into Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation today and Hugh Francis Jesseman of Antony Batty & Company LLP was appointed as liquidator."

BBC News NI has contacted Barry McGuigan for comment.

Companies are usually liquidated when the firm cannot pay its debts, but liquidation can also be requested when directors do not wish to continue running a business.

The creditors' meetings went ahead on 2 January.

Both firms have experienced legal complications recently.

In 2021, McGuigans Gym Ltd was given notice that it was to be compulsorily struck off the Companies House register and dissolved, but that action was later suspended after an objection was received by the registrar.

In December 2023, Cyclone Promotions Ltd faced a winding up petition from His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over an alleged tax debt.

However, HMRC's petition was dismissed in the High Court in Belfast after the judge was told that any outstanding bill had been paid in full.