Barry McGuigan said he knew "very quickly" that he had a future in boxing because he was knocking people out at the age of just 13. The former world champion, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005, is reflecting on his career ahead of the 40th anniversary of his famous world title victory over long-reigning world champion Eusebio Pedroza in June 1985. In an interview with Belfast Live ahead of an event in Monaghan to mark the anniversary, he described how he began to thrive on the escape that his fights offered fans from the horrors of the Troubles, how he made the decision so many fighters struggle with in ending his career, and his pride in his sons' achievements in the sport. Early career - this is for me He began his career in boxing at a club just across the border in Co Fermanagh - far from a renowned breeding ground for champion fighters but one which still had some success - after "pestering" his father to take him. His father, Pat McGuigan, represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1968 with the song 'Chance of a Lifetime' that reached number-one in the Irish singles chart. But despite a busy time between gigs, he found the time to take Barry and his brother Dermot to Wattlebridge Amateur Boxing Club. "The Bridge Club, which I started off in, they had a couple of guys that went and done reasonably well - particularly a guy called Paul Connolly who joined the Garda and he was a national senior, a light heavyweight champion," Barry explained. "I pestered my dad to bring me - he was gigging four nights a week so time was precious. I asked him would he bring me out to the club, me and my brother Dermot. "So we went out to the club but there's nobody there. It was in the summer and it was run by farmers so they come in once a week during the harvest time. It wasn't a club that was lively in the summer time." Despite the inauspicious beginning, Barry fell in love with the sport having also tried his hand at GAA, soccer and middle distance running. "I had my first fight in the cinema in Clones, way back in '74, and that's how it started," he said. "The club was very inactive and I got sort of fed up going out there and there was nobody there. I used to cycle out, along the barricaded roads during the tough times. My mother said 'you're not going out there anymore, there's nobody there, blah blah blah'." Undeterred, he joined another club with a friend who had a car. "I joined the Smithboro Boxing Club with my friend, Tony Coyle," he said. "He picked me up and we drove to the club and really that's where the story began in earnest. I started entering championships and winning championships. Crossing the border back and forth every day was a normal situation but as the years went on, it got more and more precarious." He said he became aware of his talent for the sport very quickly. "I knew pretty quickly I could bang, I could punch hard," he said. "I had long arms even as a kid, long arms, big hands and I could belt. My technique had a lot of work to be done on it, but I knew back then I could get rid of guys and you know, hit knock guys out at like 13 years old. That wasn't done very often. So I knew the guys that were technically better if I nailed them, I had a great chance. So even at the start, I knew 'this is for me'. I was a decent middle distance runner, too small for a Gaelic - I got elbowed on the head more often. I was a decent soccer player but didn't have the kick that most of the the really good guys had. But once I got into boxing, I went 'bang, this is it'." In his early amateur career, he fought in Ulster Championships, national championships and eventually represented Northern Ireland in the Commonwealth Games and Ireland at the 1980 Olympics. He won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton in 1978 and captained the Irish Olympic team in 1980, where he said he lost to the world champion Winfred Kabunda despite having "beat him from here to Cork and back". "I knew I'd beaten him, he knew I'd beaten him," he said. Turning pro On his career as a professional, he said: "In 1981, I turned professional with Barney Eastwood. He was a big time bookmaker. We were just off Castle Street in Belfast, that was his main head office, and we built a gym there at the back or at the side of his building. Before that I was going to all the best amateur clubs, like the Holy Family and the Holy Trinity, the Oliver Plunkett, and getting sparring from guys who were bigger just to, you know, get me through the early stages. My professional career launched and I had my first fight in Dalymount Park [in Dublin]. It was May 1981, and it was on the undercard of Charlie Nash who had been beaten for the European title by a guy called Joey Gibilisco, who was an Australia-based Italian." Derry man Nash, who won the European title but fell short in a bout for the WBC world title against Jim Watt despite having knocked the Scot down during their fight, was described by McGuigan as a "great fellow" and "lovely guy". "I had my first fight against a guy called Selvin Bell," Barry continued. "And I remember Harry Mullen, who was the editor of Boxing News originally from Northern Ireland, he said 'the screams and shouts of all of McGuigan's fans, you'd think he'd he'd just beaten the world champion instead of being the fifty-second guy to beat Selvin Bell." He continued: "That was a start and Barney and I sort of brought back boxing because it hadn't been in Belfast, hadn't been sort of really flying since Freddie Gilroy and John Colwell back in the, in the 50s. We got it back up and running. We packed out the Ulster Hall for the first couple of fights and then we went to the King's Hall and, and the momentum started." Support during the Troubles McGuigan said it is "amazing how we actually circumnavigated" the big boxing events during the height of the Troubles. "All of that trouble and we were able to bring people together," he said. "The people were so sad and they wanted to latch on to something that would be exhilarating, would be lifting them and giving them a bit of peace, as it were - peace of mind and and being able to go along and support somebody. And you know, I happened to be that human being so I was very thrilled and very honored that I got so much amazing support." With support from both sides of the sectarian divide, the Clones man deliberately eschewed divisive symbols. His shorts were blue - the colours of the United Nations with a dove sewn in - and his father sang Danny Boy before several of his matches. The Ulster fighter became a unifying symbol as he notched up wins against some of the world's best, leading ultimately to his fight with Pedroza at Loftus Park stadium. "I just think people were so tired of what was going on and many of them brokenhearted because of losing family members or friends and whatever," he said. "There was no switch off. It was there every day, you know, the army were there, the Troubles were there - you know, it's euphemistic like, the Troubles, but the troubles were f**king horrendous. They were crazy, shocking and they had no switch off, no release. And I just was very fortunate to come along at that time where they could come into events when they were full of emotion and sadness - and happiness when I fought and won. They screamed their heads off and so the atmosphere was terrifying for my opponents." He added: "It's hard to actually explain it. It's almost you have to be there to understand it and sample it, but all those that are still alive that were there - it was an amazing time." Stepping away After winning the world title, McGuigan successfully defended his title twice. He lost a fifteen-round bout held in extreme heat - 43 degrees - in Las Vegas in 1986. Despite following his loss with three more wins, he made the decision retire when his bout with Jim McDonnell in 1989 was stopped due to a cut. He said the inability by some boxers to hang up their gloves is the "single biggest problem in boxing". "Guys that have been amazing, have been incredible fighters, just can't walk away. And majority of the time, despite what they might lie and say to you, it is because of finance, because they need the money. Money is tied up in long-term investments because good accountants will tie the money up so that you'll have it when you're 60, 70 years old, rather than having it now. That's good accountancy and good advice, but it is the single biggest difficulty in boxing, being able to walk away from it." He described his own decision to call it quits. "I said to myself, I'm done," he said. "In 1989, I had my last fight and I knew that the the magic had gone - only just a little bit, but that's all it takes. If you want to take too much punishment, you want to stay around and hang around when you shouldn't be hanging around. That was always my modus operandi. So this is finished, I'm out, I'm out the door, I'm not going to hang around." He continued: "I lost my last fight on a cut to a guy called Jimmy McDonnell and it would have been a sort of pre world title fight. I was getting ready to fight for the world title. I had to beat this guy to get to the next stage. I got caught in the second round. It was a dreadful cut, and the referee stopped the fight. I came out of that ring and I went, that's it, I'm done." He added: "I'm not going to be 85% of the Barry McGuigan that was around in 1985 who who was exceptional, I'm not going to do that." Family business Following his retirement, he spent decades providing expert opinion about boxing on TV and in writing. His sons, Jake, Blain and Shane are all involved in boxing - with Shane having coached no fewer than 10 world champions before his 40th birthday. "I'm still doing the writing," he said "I don't appear as much on television these days and it's kind of, I'm kind of pleased about that because I don't want to be running up and down the country at 64 years old, but I'm still involved, I'm heavily involved. My son Shane has trained 10 world champions already - he's only 36 years old. He's really good at it. My son Jake works with him and Blain works with him as well. It's a family business. They've got a great stable of fighters and we've got two female world champions at the moment." His pride for his sons' achievements obvious, he continued: "Our cruiserweight world champion Chris Beersmith just lost in a unification fight with a guy called Gilberto Ramirez and he's won again in Tottenham about a month ago, 3 weeks ago, and he's ready to fight for the world title again. "We've got a gym full of exceptional talent and a young kid called Adam Azim who's absolutely unbelievable. He's a real monster, he's superb. They're all developing and the fights are happening all the time. It's hard work. It's a very difficult job for Shane but he's phenomenal at it, he's really good at it." He added: "It's lovely to be around it and I keep in touch with all the boxing that happens in, in Northern Ireland - Cacace won the world title, looking great, doing very well." The event in Monaghan, An Afternoon with Barry McGuigan, takes place at the Hillgrove Hotel on Sunday, June 8 and includes a drinks Reception, four course meal, after dinner speech, and live band. 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