BoxRec

Barker is now looking to go onto big and better things. I'd just like to know who he'd beat out of these boxers:

Macklin - I think this would be a good fight, but Barker will come out on top with a late stoppage.

Gevor - I haven't been able to watch a great deal of Gevor, but from what I have seen he seems like a good, strong fighter, and did give Abraham a decent fight until he was stopped in the 11th. But i'll be looking to see how he does against Sturm in August and then Barker could fight the winner of that fight.

Mundine - His recent win over Geale has proved he is a decent fighter, BUT he did only win on a SD and I do believe Barker would cause him some real problems and might even win this.

Sebastian Sylvester - I have never been overly impressed my this bocers, and he loss against Sturm has put him out of the world scene, and I do believe Barker would win this fight.

Pavlik, Abraham - I don't think Barker is quite ready for these types of fight at the moment IMO but by next year these fighters would of moved on from this division.

Your views.....

DuranTheGreat wrote:Barker is now looking to go onto big and better things. I'd just like to know who he'd beat out of these boxers:

Macklin - I think this would be a good fight, but Barker will come out on top with a late stoppage.

Gevor - I haven't been able to watch a great deal of Gevor, but from what I have seen he seems like a good, strong fighter, and did give Abraham a decent fight until he was stopped in the 11th. But i'll be looking to see how he does against Sturm in August and then Barker could fight the winner of that fight.

Mundine - His recent win over Geale has proved he is a decent fighter, BUT he did only win on a SD and I do believe Barker would cause him some real problems and might even win this.

Sebastian Sylvester - I have never been overly impressed my this bocers, and he loss against Sturm has put him out of the world scene, and I do believe Barker would win this fight.

Pavlik, Abraham - I don't think Barker is quite ready for these types of fight at the moment IMO but by next year these fighters would of moved on from this division.

Your views.....

Barker loses the lot apart from sylvester.

teddy007 - Seriously? I just can't see Barker losing to Macklin. I think Barker will surprise a lot of people. People said he couldn't punch, and then went on to he stop a boxer that had never even been floored before amateur or pro (Mcdermott). Even though the fight might of been stopped too early, how many more right hands did Mcdermott want to take. When Barker gets his right hand going he just doesn't miss. I'd say he's deffo EU level, and we'll have to see whether he can make it to the very top.

I reckon he could beat Macklin, Gevor and Sylvester. Mundine is too smart and experienced for him and would likely outbox him.

DuranTheGreat wrote:teddy007 - Seriously? I just can't see Barker losing to Macklin. I think Barker will surprise a lot of people. People said he couldn't punch, and then went on to he stop a boxer that had never even been floored before amateur or pro (Mcdermott). Even though the fight might of been stopped too early, how many more right hands did Mcdermott want to take. When Barker gets his right hand going he just doesn't miss. I'd say he's deffo EU level, and we'll have to see whether he can make it to the very top.

Tell you what i dont give a sh!t because he will never win a world title all the time pavlik and abraham are there. He aint world class and never will be also he aint exciting and i can only wish that Macklin beats the crap out of him.

Some people are really under-estimating Barker. He's one of the best fighters in the UK right now. Barker's defensive skills are to be admired. His defensive skills remind me of the great Pernell Whittaker ...... don't get me wrong I'm not trying to compare the two in terms of overall ability!

teddy007 - Chill out! I think I smell a bit of jealousy :P
The Law - It's good to see someone follows boxing ;)

He will beat Macklin, and would give Pavlik a good go, the guy is not superhuman and he is slow.

Abraham I'd keep him away from but the rest he'd do ok with...

I think Barker will beat Macklin but is not quite ready for world level he still has to many am habits that the best would take advantage of like putting his hands down when going out i think Mundine, AA, Strum and Pavlik would all beat him at the moment but in a few years he could beat Mundine and Strum but i still think Pav and AA would win

It really makes me laugh!!!

Darren Barker as a accomplished boxer as he is at domestic level - what on earth has he done or proved at European or world level for people to have such a lofty opinion of him??

Maybe and with all due respect it was beating the "world class" Darren McDermott???

Barker is World Class and gives anyone a hard night in the World.
I think he has a very good chance to beat everybody on that list.
He's doing things the right way for sure , he's a great talent and top man!!

Hardcase wrote:Barker is World Class and gives anyone a hard night in the World.
I think he has a very good chance to beat everybody on that list.
He's doing things the right way for sure , he's a great talent and top man!!

You are nuts mate

DuranTheGreat wrote:teddy007 - Chill out! I think I smell a bit of jealousy :P
The Law - It's good to see someone follows boxing ;)

Edited by Mod - Offensive comments

Barker is an extremely well conditioned and technical fighter. He trains extremely hard and can do the 12 in his sleep.

He may not have world class one punch power, but to quote Shane Mosley snr, if you hit a target often enough it will eventually fall apart no matter how concussive you can hit.

Barker is an excellent middleweight who hopefully can now move into the European scene.

But first i'd like to see a Macklin fight.

I think Barker has got some steel in him now, possibly brought about by the tragic loss of his bro.

Who has Barker beaten to be considered World Class , people beggining to believe hype
The Words world class are thrown aroond to easily to fighters who have not yet fought at world level , next thing we hear will be Mathew Hatton is World class as he has beaten former world and european title holders and challengers . Thinking about it he has more right to be called world class then barker

tyson wrote:Who has Barker beaten to be considered World Class , people beggining to believe hype
The Words world class are thrown aroond to easily to fighters who have not yet fought at world level , next thing we hear will be Mathew Hatton is World class as he has beaten former world and european title holders and challengers . Thinking about it he has more right to be called world class then barker

I think only one person in this thread referred to him as being world class .....

He definitely has a lot of potential though.

I believe also that he could be world class a few more domestic learning fights ie macklin who I think that is going to be a crcking fight but I really think he's the best prospect in Britain at the min

Barker's opposition has been quite disappointing - Crampton, McKay, Bendall, McDermott. I mean, the latter two are English level guys, not British level.

But Barker showed impressive workrate v Crampton, impressive punch picking v Bendall & McDermott - but both these fights are "iffy" KOs/TKOs.

He does seem to be developing well and if he can iron out that flaw of ducking low and looking to the canvas, and of telegraphing his right hand, then he can do well. I think he's become a more sensible, composed, tighter fighter, so that he'll cover up that suspect chin instead of taking unnecessary shots. But we have to see if his physical strength is going to improve as that is a question mark right now.

A lot of us probably doubted Froch and Haye when they were on the way up but in his own way Barker looks like he can keep on improving and maybe go up to win on the world scene. If he can fight a bit more often, if he can move between long/mid/close range a bit more smoothly...

But first I'd like to see if he can beat down an authentic British level challenger. A classy sharp shooter, I hope he does well. Like most ppl who post on this subject, I'd like to see him fight Macklin. Macklin went right for the jugular with that Elcock win, and has a strong case of being British #1.

The Law wrote: He definitely has a lot of potential though.

As do many boxers who ultimately fail to deliver on the "world" stage.

Barker for me is going to be one of those boxers and I will make sure we revisit this thread as it will not take long for me to be proven correct.

I will finish off by stating I have nothing against Darren - really nice guy, bloody good domestic boxer, just not European or World class in my view.

I think even Barker himself would acknowledge that he's about a year away from facing the top guys of the division. He needs two or three more fights before he's ready for the better guys in the division, if he ever will be.

what happened to interesting fights with jantuah, ouma, and canada's renan st juste?

i was looking forward to all these bouts and nothing happened with any of them.

but i think it is good that barker genuinely wants to fight guys that are his equals - duddy pre defeat, macklin - on his way up.

can't fault his skills or his attitude but it's a big debate as to whether he or macklin is the better. i believed in macklin's talent for a while, and while he hasn't always convinced - didn't exactly dominate a 100 year old yori boy campas did he? - he looked awesome, strong, classy in the elcock bout.

wouldn't it be awesome if either barker or macklin won a world belt, and throw the formidable jamie moore and the talented any lee in the mix as well!

Spud wrote:

Hardcase wrote:Barker is World Class and gives anyone a hard night in the World.
I think he has a very good chance to beat everybody on that list.
He's doing things the right way for sure , he's a great talent and top man!!

You are nuts mate

I have to agree with Spud. I think he can beat Gevor, Slyvester, and Macklin, which would make him world class in a weak division. But AA or Pavlik? No way. I think Mundine outboxes him as well.