Matthew Barney won the vacant British title at Wembley on the 29th March 2003 with a unanimous decision over former champion Dean Francis. However he lost in a Commonwealth title bid against Ghana’s Charles Adamu in August that resulted in the British title being declared vacant once again. Barney won the WBU Light-heavyweight title from Tony Oakey but never defended it. Matthew lost in a challenge for the European title at Light-heavy against German Thomas Ulrich before returning to Super-middleweight to challenge Carl Froch for the British and Commonwealth titles, losing on points on July 9th 2005.

Matthew chalked up four straight wins after the Froch defeat.  Matthew’s final fight in February 2009 resulted in fifth round disqualification for persistent holding against Danny McIntosh for the English Light Heavyweight Title.  Matthew’s 33 fight record ended with 25 (KO 6) Wins - 7 lost - 1 draw.