Martin Murray interested in facing Barker next but doubts it will happen

By Boxing News - 01/24/2012 - Comments

Image: Martin Murray interested in facing Barker next but doubts it will happenBy William Mackay: In response to the news that promoter Eddie Hearn was considering him as a potential opponent for Darren Barker (23-1, 14 KO’s) in his next fight in April, Martin Murray (23-0-1, 10 KO’s) reportedly spoke up and had his management team let Hearn know he’s very much interested in facing the 29-year-old Barker next.

Speaking with boxrec.com, Murray said “I read the news from Eddie Hearn about the offer to myself to fight Darren Barker. This is a fight I’d love to make…My matchmaker Richard Poxon got a response, more or less saying ‘Take it or leave it.’..This isn’t the response of a team that wasn’t a fight to happen. They don’t want this fight and that’s no disrespect to Darren because I respect him.”

Murray, #4 WBA, #8 WBC, could be being strung along until Barker’s team finds out if he can get a better offer against one of the middleweight champions – Daniel Geale, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. or Dmitriy Pirog. Barker has a chance of getting a fight with all of them and he could be looking to see what the best deal he can get it.

If none of them give him the fight, then that’s where the 29-year-old Murray fits in. It still would be a dangerous fight for Barker to take, however, because Murray would be one of the toughest opponents of his career.

I suspect that Barker would have too many technical skills for Murray to handle in the end but you never know. Murray showed good power in his 12 round draw with WBA World middleweight champion last month in December. Murray gave Sturm a great deal of problems in that fight and probably deserved to win it. But he faded in the last round and that hurt him.

Barker, 29, was stopped in the 11th round by WBC Diamond middleweight champion Sergio Martinez last October.



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