BoxRec

Newport Daz wrote: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 wrote:

Newport Daz wrote: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.

tobyh5 wrote: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 wrote: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 ?

stevieb_8006 wrote:

Quixall wrote: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

TJ77 wrote:Great post length of post isnt a problem if the content is good

Datsue wrote: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).

mrpedigree wrote:Anybody know the score cards when it was stopped ?

TJ77 wrote:Great post length of post isnt a problem if the content is good

wesley05 wrote:

TJ77 wrote:Great post length of post isnt a problem if the content is good

Agree top man tone top top post

Final round wrote: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.

Quixall wrote:

mrpedigree wrote: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.