BoxRec

It's hard to begrudge Barker a bit of success. Will it make him "the man" at Middle? Of course not, but it's still an intriguing contest against a genuine top 10 fighter.

Will there be a bit of hype if he wins? Of course. As there will be if Cleverly retains against Drago. If you can't deal with promoters overstating their fighters achievements you might as well give up on boxing.

We swallow it with Amir because at certain times he's a guy that looks like the best in his division. he's consistently fought a high level of opponent until after the Garcia loss.

We swallow it with Carl because he has proved he is willing to continually fight the upper echelons of the division to prove he is the best.

Barker has done nothing to make a statement on the world stage, and i don't think he will against Geale either. He is to passive to make a dent in the scorecards here.

magnus wrote:It's hard to begrudge Barker a bit of success. Will it make him "the man" at Middle? Of course not, but it's still an intriguing contest against a genuine top 10 fighter.

Will there be a bit of hype if he wins? Of course. As there will be if Cleverly retains against Drago. If you can't deal with promoters overstating their fighters achievements you might as well give up on boxing.

The Kovalev fight is a tougher fight though I think.

columbo wrote:

magnus wrote:It's hard to begrudge Barker a bit of success. Will it make him "the man" at Middle? Of course not, but it's still an intriguing contest against a genuine top 10 fighter.

Will there be a bit of hype if he wins? Of course. As there will be if Cleverly retains against Drago. If you can't deal with promoters overstating their fighters achievements you might as well give up on boxing.

The Kovalev fight is a tougher fight though I think.

He's certainly a harder puncher, whether he's better than Geale is far less clear. Really interested in August 17th, looking forward to both fights.

Barker is in the hinterland between European level and true world class; he looked fantastic v Hope and will be more cautious v Geale, he will show that he can hang in there but not win. Barker v Macklin would be a good bout.

palooka wrote:Barker is in the hinterland between European level and true world class; he looked fantastic v Hope and will be more cautious v Geale, he will show that he can hang in there but not win. Barker v Macklin would be a good bout.

Or Barker vs Andy lee or murray. i think they're all around the same level to be honest.

columbo wrote:

palooka wrote:Barker is in the hinterland between European level and true world class; he looked fantastic v Hope and will be more cautious v Geale, he will show that he can hang in there but not win. Barker v Macklin would be a good bout.

Or Barker vs Andy lee or murray. i think they're all around the same level to be honest.

I think you're right, all excellent but not true world class; Murray is the best of them.

Barker on points.

As good as Geales wins over Sylvester and Sturm were I think the Barker we've seen in his last few fights would have beaten them too.

It'll be a close fight I'd imagine.

jimcook wrote:

columbo wrote:

G0mez wrote:I think Geale and Barker are on a similar level and it should be a close fight.

Worse champions than Barker have walked around at middleweight with a title around their waist.

But perhaps I'm biased because I like Darren Barker.

Barker is a decent fighter. I think as fans though you get sick of seeing guys who are decent but not truely world champion material being world champions. That's clearly the result of all the different governing bodies though.

true, but why are we willing to swallow it with froch and khan, but not with barker? barker went in with martinez first, so arguably, had to deal with the best version. and dont be so sure that barker couldnt cope with GGG.....hes quite a skilled boxer, and now has the experience of going in with the best and performing well.

The only Middleweight about that could cope with Golovkin, IMO, is Martinez and I'm not sure even he could now, at his best he had enough, but he's past his best now and will be 39 years old when he returns.