Kevin Finnegan

Who was Kevin Finnegan?

Kevin Finnegan was an English boxer.

Finnegan's older brother Chris was an Olympic gold medalist and also a professional boxer. Early in his career when Kevin was still an amateur he was banned for 18 months for climbing into the ring to dispute a loss his brother had suffered. He was well known for a trilogy of fights against Alan Minter; although he lost all three, they were close point decisions.

He won the British Middleweight title on three separate occasions, and was a two-time European Middleweight champion. Finnegan twice fought future undisputed world champion Marvin Hagler, losing by a technical knockout on both occasions. Hagler later referred to Finnegan as the toughest man he had ever fought. He also held wins over Tony Sibson and Gratien Tonna. His career lasted from 1970 to 1980 and he had 47 fights, winning 35, losing 11 and drawing one.

Finnegan died of heart disease on 23 October 2008, at his home in Hillingdon.