Kevin McBride secured his place in boxing history on 11 June 2005 at the MCI Centre in Washington DC when he became the last opponent to beat the once-fearsome former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, forcing Tyson to quit on his stool at the end of the sixth round – the only time in Tyson’s career he was unable to answer the bell.

His Olympic career began at the 1992 Barcelona Games, where he lost his opening bout to Czech boxer Peter Hrivnak 21-1 as the youngest member of the Irish team. From Clones, Co. Monaghan, McBride was a huge physical presence who made his amateur career without the polish of the great technical boxers but compensated with exceptional courage and durability throughout a long professional career in the USA.

His loss in Barcelona, while heavy on the scoreboard, was the beginning of a journey that took him through the heavyweight ranks to the remarkable victory over Tyson thirteen years later.