BoxRec

Surprised at how often Barker backs up straight instead of stepping off to the side. Will he pay for it though?

Spada is no joke of a fighter. He is better than Zbik who beat him thanks to Universium. I see Barker taking it but by a tight margin IE 116-112 and 115-113 on the cards.

brian13 wrote:Spada is no joke of a fighter. He is better than Zbik who beat him thanks to Universium. I see Barker taking it but by a tight margin IE 116-112 and 115-113 on the cards.

Good point, this is a genuinely good test for Barker, beating Spada even on a close decision will be a sound achievement for him.

Barker is boxing fluidly and looking sharp and impressive, he's winning 4rds to 1 for me and should take this comfortably if he carries on without getting tired.

Barker's getting away with a lot of holding and slipping into clinches by dropping the head. However, he's clearly winning and making Spada look a bit one-dimensional at times.

Can't understand the commenatators! Barker isn't being dragged in to a fight, he's dropping into it himself because he's clearly tiring.

He started to look a bit jaded towards the end of the fifth. Scrappy action will suit Spada.

Barker's hanging in there a bit in the 8th round. Starting to badly tire, this could get interesting. Hope he wins it.

Fair play to Barker for coming back after a year straight into a 12 round fight.


Lads keep the Play by Play up. I am not watching it and dont want to be honest since I am going out soon.

Hard fight to score especially with the usual biased sky commentary.

I've probably got it 6rds to 3 to Barker but it's probably more likely 8rds to 1 on the scorecards.

Don't want to be overly negative but a lot of Barker's combos are hitting gloves and he's leaning in a lot, but fair play to him he's coming through it well considering the layoff. Very good rust shedding exercise. Impressive performance considering the circumstances.

Interesting to see Rob McCraken sitting next to the Hearns.

Spada is a tough ombre, I would like to see him against Murray in the future. Darren gritted it out nicely.... amazing call with the cards Brian.

What was wrong with the MC tonight? He was very poor.

Pretty much the fight I expected. Spada will always be competitive in losing efforts to guys at Barker's level.

Horse wrote:What was wrong with the MC tonight? He was very poor.

Mistake from the ref, raising Barkers hand before his name was announced it was a vacant title fight and there was going to be a new champion anyway.

stujones wrote:

Horse wrote:What was wrong with the MC tonight? He was very poor.

Mistake from the ref, raising Barkers hand before his name was announced it was a vacant title fight and there was going to be a new champion anyway.

True.
Barker put a good night in tho. Hate to agree with nelson but think he'd be all over macklin

Barker looked good tonight against a tough, durable opponent! I had it a lot wider than the judges (119-109). Hopefully Barker can push on and be challenging for world honours by the end of 2011

ESB called me a biased Irish cúnt for giving two rounds to Spada - and then they read the cards out and I must have sounded like I was Telboy O'Connor!

For all his craft Barker looked easy to hit and devoid of power.

stujones wrote:Mistake from the ref, raising Barkers hand before his name was announced it was a vacant title fight and there was going to be a new champion anyway.

The MC shouldn't have emphasised "and new" though, he messed up. He seemed to be stumbling over his words when doing the Sexton fight as well.

stujones wrote:Interesting to see Rob McCraken sitting next to the Hearns.

Spada is a tough ombre, I would like to see him against Murray in the future. Darren gritted it out nicely.... amazing call with the cards Brian.

Froch be signing fir them I reckon!

I might be wrong, but I don't think I have ever heard a promoter say publically that he would love to work with a fighter and then see that fighter sign for someone else. Warren/Murray, Warren/Khan etc.

brian13 wrote:Spada is no joke of a fighter. He is better than Zbik who beat him thanks to Universium. I see Barker taking it but by a tight margin IE 116-112 and 115-113 on the cards.

I had it a bit wider for Barker though.

What a mess that was lol!
I really want to apologise I know I looked rubbish tonight!I just watched it back and I think the score was bang on but you guys are right I had no snap but it wasn't that I wasn't fit I was F_-)(ed after the first min I got ill a week or so back and thought I felt good enough to fight that's why the weight was so high!I'm an 8stone boxer!but I don't wanna take nothing from robinson he made it a hard fight for me!and I would love to fight colon or wilton but I will get sorted and I can promise a different sexton in my next fight!thanks for the continued!

Anyone that thinks Barker didn't win that fight and impress after a year out is totally deluded! He was landing the cleaner shots, and showed his durability and stamina in this fight. Barker will walk all over Macklin, as the irishmans too one-dimensional just like Spada was last night! He was modest in his post match interview and admitted he's better than that, and this was a big learning curve against a world class opponent. Let's all watch Macklin get a lesson against Sturm (if he turns up), and then Dazzling can go for world title!

ashley-sexton wrote:What a mess that was lol!
I really want to apologise I know I looked rubbish tonight!I just watched it back and I think the score was bang on but you guys are right I had no snap but it wasn't that I wasn't fit I was F_-)(ed after the first min I got ill a week or so back and thought I felt good enough to fight that's why the weight was so high!I'm an 8stone boxer!but I don't wanna take nothing from robinson he made it a hard fight for me!and I would love to fight colon or wilton but I will get sorted and I can promise a different sexton in my next fight!thanks for the continued!

Nothing worse than getting ill on week of the fight, well done for battling through and good luck in your next fight.

Considering Barker had been out for a year, I thought he was pretty impressive last night.

If Macklin somehow beats Sturm (which I can't see happening), and he faces Barker after that, Barker could well be a world champion by 2012. He impresses me a lot more than Macklin, that's for sure.