Barker-Geale on August 17th in Verona, New York

By Boxing News - 05/19/2013 - Comments

barker2By Scott Gilfoid: Darren Barker (25-1, 16 KO’s) will get his first shot at a real honest to goodness world title on August 17th against IBF middleweight champion Daniel Geale (29-1, 15 KO’s) at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York.

Barker previously fought WBC Diamond middleweight champion Sergio Martinez two years ago and was blasted out in 11 rounds, but I don’t recognize that as an actual world title.

I see the Diamond strap as one of those straps to get a sanctioning fee. Martinez won that strap in a fight against Sergiy Dzinziruk in March of 2011, and I’m still trying to figure out why Martinez even bothered having that title on the line.

Whatever the case, this will be the first real world title that Barker will be fighting for. He’s currently ranked #12 WBO, but he hasn’t fought a quality opponent since he got stopped by Sergio Martinez.

Barker has been playing it safe ever since, beating Kerry Hope and someone named Simone Rotolo. I never heard of that guy before and I can’t imagine him being any kind of real tune-up for the Geale fight.

Geale, 32, beat former WBA Super World middleweight champion Felix Sturm last year by a 12 round split decision in September. It was a close fight but Geale definitely deserved the decision.

Instead of defending the title against Gennady Golovkin in a dangerous fight, Geale played it safe and gave up the strap to fight fellow Australian Anthony Mundine last January in a fight Geale won by a 12 round unanimous decision.

It was a smart move by Geale to avoid the fight with Golovkin because he would have lost that fight and been knocked out. At least by choosing to fight the aging veteran Mundine, Geale was able to keep his IBF strap instead of losing both belts against Golovkin.

I see Geale beating Barker in this fight. Barker plays it safe too much and will likely give away the fight by fighting too conservatively. Barker is a really stiff fighter and doesn’t seem to have the flexibility to do a lot of things in the ring that he needs to. Geale will box him silly and win a decision.

I’m not sure why they’re staging this fight in the United States because neither guy is from the U.S and neither of them have a fan base there.



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