By Scott Gilfoid: IBF middleweight champion Darren Barker (26-1, 16 KO’s) expects to retire the 34-year-old Felix Sturm (38-3-2, 17 KO’s) this Saturday night. Barker feels that he’s going to give Sturm such a beating that he’ll choose retirement rather than continuing on with his 12-year pro career.
Barker’s goal of retiring Sturm could be difficult given that the fight will be taking place in Sturm’s home country at the Porsche Arena, in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Sturm is nearly invincible in Germany, and he’s only been beaten once there during his career in losing by a 12 round split decision to Daniel Geale last year in September.
I saw that fight and I thought Sturm should have won, but for once the judges ruled against him. I don’t see Barker getting a decision on Saturday night if the fight goes to the cards, so I hope Barker plans on coming out looking for a knockout in this fight because he could be
“It is me putting an end to Felix Sturm’s career,” Barker said to Sky Sports. “He’s one of the old guard…He will call his career a day. When I beat him, it will be easy for him to hang up his gloves.”
Barker doesn’t have the kind of offensive power and skills to give Sturm the kind of beat down that would send him into a permanent retirement. If anything, I can see Sturm getting a stoppage in this fight because he’s two things going for him that are going to give Barker a lot of trouble in this fight and that’s his excellent jab and his body punching. Barker is vulnerable to both of those things, especially to body punching. I’m not sure if it’s his past hip surgeries or what, but when Barker gets hit the body, he looks uncomfortable as heck.
That’s not to say that Barker has a steel chin, because he doesn’t have a great chin. In his toughest fight of his career against Sergio Martinez in 2011, Barker stayed on the outside for 10 rounds playing it safe and just looking to survive. It was pretty disappointing to see Barker fighting like he just wanted to go the full 12 rounds without trying to win. Sergio finally got tired of Barker’s defensiveness and went after him in the 11th round and decked him with a shot on the side of the head. Sergio probably could have done the same thing to Barker much earlier in the fight had he stepped on the gas in the proper way.
Sturm’s got the power to end this fight at any time if he attacks Barker with some hard shots, and that’s what I see happening here. The only way that Barker is going to win this fight is if Sturm has aged from his last fight against Predrag Radosevic last July. Sturm looked very impressive in knocking Radosevic three times in the fight to get a stoppage in the 4th round. Sturm’s power looked as good as it was earlier in his career, and his jab was sensational.
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