Darren Barker : Opinion of the Martinez fight

[Quixall]

I think that Darren Barker will have suprised a lot of people with his performance last night, won some respect and given himself a slightly higher profile. Not many people gave Darren a chance in this fight and many, including myself, thought that it wouldn't go past five rounds. In the end Darren crumpled under the relentless pressure that Martinez started to apply in the later rounds, but i have so much respect for Darren and far from stalling his career, i think it will enhance it to a degree.

Darren looked comfortable in the fight up to the 8th round and i felt at that stage that he wouldn't win but would go down to a highly respectable decision loss. Initially he did all the right things, he closed the distance between himself and Martinez, kept the gloves held high, didn't get into a brawl and was using his jab effectively. From a negative or critical point of view, it could be said that he was staying in the fight, rather than trying to win it and had lost most of the rounds up to and including the 8th round, but he was troubling Martinez at times and genuinely didn't look out of his depth. Maybe it was Barker's plan to up the tempo in the later stages of the fight, bring in the two punch combinations, hoping that Martinez would have left his best work in the early rounds. This however wasn't the case and Martinez seemed to have unlocked the pattern of Barker by the 8th round and as Barker tired was catching him with some great counter shots and for the first time in the fight was switching from head to body which became a very affective weapon. In the end Barker decided to open up a little in the 9th round, the guard came down much more and consequently he started to get caught and the cumulative effect took it's toll and the inevitable ending came with that 11th round knock-out, but credit to Darren for trying to mix it up and trade with Martinez, when maybe a more cautious approach towards the end of the fight may have resulted in a less devastating decision loss.

I think that this fight will have given Darren great experience for his future career and there is no shame in losing to Martinez who is now perhaps in the top 3 p4p fighters along with Mayweather and Pacquaio. I think this fight proved that Darren can operate at world level and certainly has the talent to pick up an alphabet title and become a recognised middleweight champion of the world. Darren had the right strategy for the fight and looked comfortable for a long period without looking like he could actually win the fight. He had to be more busy, but knew the trade off was between staying on guard, looking decent and losing by decision or going for it and risk getting stopped or knocked out and in this fight we saw both strategies at work. This was always going to be a tough fight for Darren and one in which it was virtually impossible for him to win, given the opponent and his experience at world level, but i am convinced that he has what it takes to become a world champion.

Well Done Darren, you were a credit to British boxing last night

What do you guys think ?

[Newport Daz]

Personally, I think he'll have raised his profile loads, not just a little. The middleweight division isn't packed with quality so I reckon Darren has really put his name in the mix. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in with Pirog or Chavez jr. He performed really well, but lack of experience at the top level was missing. Now he's done that I think he'll move on to better things.

[Quixall]

Personally, I think he'll have raised his profile loads, not just a little. The middleweight division isn't packed with quality so I reckon Darren has really put his name in the mix. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in with Pirog or Chavez jr. He performed really well, but lack of experience at the top level was missing. Now he's done that I think he'll move on to better things.

I think that fighting someone of the quality of Martinez and taking him 11 rounds away from home will be invaluable experience for Darren and he will not face that type of quality fighter again. Not to say that winning a world title is an inevitability and i'm sure there will be other hard fights along the way, but as you have said yourself, the division isn't packed with quality and from last night's performance and the other fights iv'e seen Darren in, i'm convinced he will win a world title before too long.

[Newport Daz]

Personally, I think he'll have raised his profile loads, not just a little. The middleweight division isn't packed with quality so I reckon Darren has really put his name in the mix. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in with Pirog or Chavez jr. He performed really well, but lack of experience at the top level was missing. Now he's done that I think he'll move on to better things.

I think that fighting someone of the quality of Martinez and taking him 11 rounds away from home will be invaluable experience for Darren and he will not face that type of quality fighter again. Not to say that winning a world title is an inevitability and i'm sure there will be other hard fights along the way, but as you have said yourself, the division isn't packed with quality and from last night's performance and the other fights iv'e seen Darren in, i'm convinced he will win a world title before too long.

Agreed. I would take a fight with Jr in a heartbeat. Martinez is so far ahead of Jr it's unreal and Barker put on a real performance against Martinez that seems to have shocked the Yanks. Barker will definitly get another shot, i'm convinced. I expect Martinez to fight Macklin nextt so Jr will have to fight somone with a "name" and Barker fits that bill now.

[tobyh5]

What do I think? That your posts take too long to read and you need to make them about a quarter of the length....apart from that, pretty much agree lol

[Quixall]

What do I think? That your posts take too long to read and you need to make them about a quarter of the length....apart from that, pretty much agree lol

I will bear that in mind lol.............

[stevieb_8006]

I think that Darren Barker will have suprised a lot of people with his performance last night, won some respect and given himself a slightly higher profile. Not many people gave Darren a chance in this fight and many, including myself, thought that it wouldn't go past five rounds. In the end Darren crumpled under the relentless pressure that Martinez started to apply in the later rounds, but i have so much respect for Darren and far from stalling his career, i think it will enhance it to a degree.

Darren looked comfortable in the fight up to the 8th round and i felt at that stage that he wouldn't win but would go down to a highly respectable decision loss. Initially he did all the right things, he closed the distance between himself and Martinez, kept the gloves held high, didn't get into a brawl and was using his jab effectively. From a negative or critical point of view, it could be said that he was staying in the fight, rather than trying to win it and had lost most of the rounds up to and including the 8th round, but he was troubling Martinez at times and genuinely didn't look out of his depth. Maybe it was Barker's plan to up the tempo in the later stages of the fight, bring in the two punch combinations, hoping that Martinez would have left his best work in the early rounds. This however wasn't the case and Martinez seemed to have unlocked the pattern of Barker by the 8th round and as Barker tired was catching him with some great counter shots and for the first time in the fight was switching from head to body which became a very affective weapon. In the end Barker decided to open up a little in the 9th round, the guard came down much more and consequently he started to get caught and the cumulative effect took it's toll and the inevitable ending came with that 11th round knock-out, but credit to Darren for trying to mix it up and trade with Martinez, when maybe a more cautious approach towards the end of the fight may have resulted in a less devastating decision loss.

I think that this fight will have given Darren great experience for his future career and there is no shame in losing to Martinez who is now perhaps in the top 3 p4p fighters along with Mayweather and Pacquaio. I think this fight proved that Darren can operate at world level and certainly has the talent to pick up an alphabet title and become a recognised middleweight champion of the world. Darren had the right strategy for the fight and looked comfortable for a long period without looking like he could actually win the fight. He had to be more busy, but knew the trade off was between staying on guard, looking decent and losing by decision or going for it and risk getting stopped or knocked out and in this fight we saw both strategies at work. This was always going to be a tough fight for Darren and one in which it was virtually impossible for him to win, given the opponent and his experience at world level, but i am convinced that he has what it takes to become a world champion.

Well Done Darren, you were a credit to British boxing last night

What do you guys think ?

quix mate, im exhausted. just give us the highlights

[Quixall]

I think that Darren Barker will have suprised a lot of people with his performance last night, won some respect and given himself a slightly higher profile. Not many people gave Darren a chance in this fight and many, including myself, thought that it wouldn't go past five rounds. In the end Darren crumpled under the relentless pressure that Martinez started to apply in the later rounds, but i have so much respect for Darren and far from stalling his career, i think it will enhance it to a degree.

Darren looked comfortable in the fight up to the 8th round and i felt at that stage that he wouldn't win but would go down to a highly respectable decision loss. Initially he did all the right things, he closed the distance between himself and Martinez, kept the gloves held high, didn't get into a brawl and was using his jab effectively. From a negative or critical point of view, it could be said that he was staying in the fight, rather than trying to win it and had lost most of the rounds up to and including the 8th round, but he was troubling Martinez at times and genuinely didn't look out of his depth. Maybe it was Barker's plan to up the tempo in the later stages of the fight, bring in the two punch combinations, hoping that Martinez would have left his best work in the early rounds. This however wasn't the case and Martinez seemed to have unlocked the pattern of Barker by the 8th round and as Barker tired was catching him with some great counter shots and for the first time in the fight was switching from head to body which became a very affective weapon. In the end Barker decided to open up a little in the 9th round, the guard came down much more and consequently he started to get caught and the cumulative effect took it's toll and the inevitable ending came with that 11th round knock-out, but credit to Darren for trying to mix it up and trade with Martinez, when maybe a more cautious approach towards the end of the fight may have resulted in a less devastating decision loss.

I think that this fight will have given Darren great experience for his future career and there is no shame in losing to Martinez who is now perhaps in the top 3 p4p fighters along with Mayweather and Pacquaio. I think this fight proved that Darren can operate at world level and certainly has the talent to pick up an alphabet title and become a recognised middleweight champion of the world. Darren had the right strategy for the fight and looked comfortable for a long period without looking like he could actually win the fight. He had to be more busy, but knew the trade off was between staying on guard, looking decent and losing by decision or going for it and risk getting stopped or knocked out and in this fight we saw both strategies at work. This was always going to be a tough fight for Darren and one in which it was virtually impossible for him to win, given the opponent and his experience at world level, but i am convinced that he has what it takes to become a world champion.

Well Done Darren, you were a credit to British boxing last night

What do you guys think ?

quix mate, im exhausted. just give us the highlights

Maybe your just following the trend of that last guy ?

Loads of people write way more than me and that is just in their replies. I just feel that if you say the bare minimum and expect people to comment on it, it's not right, i feel that if you want people to consider what you say then you have to expand a little.

Like i say, loads of people write way more than i do, so maybe it's a lets bitch slap Quix day

[Datsue]

Nice post Q, covered all the bases. I agree with your reading of the fight & its potential effect on Darren's career.

I'd only add that I thought Martinez looked genuinely out of sorts, for whatever reason, but he still ground down the man in front of him. Good champ. Don't know about all the P4P bollocks but he's a champion willing to take on anyone, it seems & is a worthy holder of the title (my imaginary middleweight title, which I suppose makes me as bad as the p4p ninnies. Ho-hum).

[TJ77]

Great post length of post isnt a problem if the content is good

[wesley05]

Great post length of post isnt a problem if the content is good

Agree top man tone top top post

[CiganoBoxer]

Anybody know the score cards when it was stopped ?

[Quixall]

Nice post Q, covered all the bases. I agree with your reading of the fight & its potential effect on Darren's career.

I'd only add that I thought Martinez looked genuinely out of sorts, for whatever reason, but he still ground down the man in front of him. Good champ. Don't know about all the P4P bollocks but he's a champion willing to take on anyone, it seems & is a worthy holder of the title (my imaginary middleweight title, which I suppose makes me as bad as the p4p ninnies. Ho-hum).

Thanks Datsue......

He was looking a little bit off for the first 5 rounds or so and it was suggested that maybe he hadn't taken Barker that seriously and hadn't trained as effectively etc etc, but i felt that as the fight wore on he was gaining the measure of Barker. It's a pity that Martinez is the age he is, it would be nice to see him around for a few years. It was suggested that he has been offered a fight with Bernard Hopkins at 170lbs or a catch weight but didn't seem to keen on the idea. Personally i think that he would out work Hopkins and win a unanimous decision.

[Quixall]

Anybody know the score cards when it was stopped ?

I think one had it by 8 rounds, not sure on the second judge but it was a wide margin, but the third had it by three if i remember rightly.

[Quixall]

Great post length of post isnt a problem if the content is good

Thanks

I think that if you want people to comment then a post should be considered and a certain length. It's all about opinions, but i appreciate your comments.

[Quixall]

Great post length of post isnt a problem if the content is good

Agree top man tone top top post

Thanks Wesley, appreciate it

[Final round]

Yep I agree Quixall, I criticised the wisdom in taking this match, wondering how a early KO would have helped his career but he showed his class at a previously unproven level and he should be proud of his performance.

I found myself comparing Barkers considered approach built on discipline to Paul Williams fighting like a fcking moron in the second fight just asking to get sparked.

[CiganoBoxer]

Anybody think Martinez looked very beatable last night ??
My old man has not really seen much of him before and he dint rate him that high on that performance last night.

[wesley05]

Yep I agree Quixall, I criticised the wisdom in taking this match, wondering how a early KO would have helped his career but he showed his class at a previously unproven level and he should be proud of his performance.

I found myself comparing Barkers considered approach built on discipline to Paul Williams fighting like a fcking moron in the second fight just asking to get sparked.

[punchers chance]

I thought he performed with a lot of credit - infinitely better than Lockett or Jennings for example. However I never thought he was going to win and felt the Sky team were giving him a bit too much credit in their scoring. Its a shame he doesn't carry a bit more power because he showed some good boxing skills and ringcraft. he was controlling the tempo of the fight quite well at times.

[tonyevs]

Agreed - Barker did himself proud.

That said. Lets not forget that Martinez is a blown up light-middle. A 36yr old guy surely at the tail end of his career.
A guy who's reputation is built on beating what alot of people consider the shell of an over-rated fighter ( Pavlik of course) and sparking out a guy that was at best a lt-middle ..and hung his chin out.

The middleweight division is very weak. Martinez is good rather than great.
Barker does stand a chance of winning a world title. There are so many out there.
But as good as he did - his limitations were shown.
I think he will get another chance - but he will always be chosen for his limitations.

[Scottrf]

Anybody know the score cards when it was stopped ?

I think one had it by 8 rounds, not sure on the second judge but it was a wide margin, but the third had it by three if i remember rightly.

I heard 99-91, the others by 3 (how I had it) and 2 rounds.

[Lenny]

Barker boxed well and in my mind did as well as he could against Martinez. At the end of the day, he just didn't have the speed, movement or power needed to win the fight. When he started to take risks with throwing combinations, he was just too easily countered. Also for the people saying Martinez was off form, I give Barker credit for this. He was judging the distance well and catching him with good straight shots and keeping his guard firm and high, it just took Martinez a while to figure him out.

Barker just doesn't look all that solid. Does a lot of things well but hasn't got a real standout feature that might lead him to a major title. On that performance I would have Macklin outworking him and wearing him down late but then I would have Martinez stopping the more open, aggressive Macklin in the first half of the fight.

Wouldn't mind seeing Strum v Martinez by the way

[bobmee]

Scores:
99-91 Alejandro Rochin (Mexico)
96-94 Lynne Carter (New Jersey)
97-94 Victor Loughlin (Scotland)

[themadmariner]

Barker did ok, but was never really in with a shout of winning the fight in my opinion.

I hope it will improve his stock in America and enable him to get more big title fights further down the line, but I personally think the best fight for him at the moment would be Macklin. Both are coming off losses, but good performances in world title fights. If they get it on, the winner would almost be guarenteed another World Title shot.

For those wanting a Martinez v Macklin fight, I personally think it would be a terrible fight for Macklin. Judging by his tatics against Sturm he was very aggressive and constantly came forward putting Sturm under pressue. If he did that against Martinez he would get picked off and knocked out early.