By Sean McDaniel: In a battle of middleweight contenders, unbeaten Darren Barker (22-0, 14 KO’s) will be facing the tough Domenico Spada (32-3, 16 KO’s) for the vacant European Boxing Union (EBU) middleweight title on Saturday night at the Olympia, Kensington, London, England. Barker, 28, is ranked #5 WBC, #10 IBF, #14 WBO and seems to be wasting a good portion of his career chasing domestic and European level straps rather than going after world titles.
For Barker, this is really a step backwards for him because he previously won the EBU title last year. Barker was forced to give up the title after suffering a hip injury. The injury kept Barker from defending his EBU title against Matthew Macklin in September. Now Barker is going after the title again rather than following Macklin’s lead and going for a major world title.
Barker struggled in his last fight a year against Affif Belghecham in April 2010. Although Barker ultimately won the fight by a 12 round unanimous decision, it was a very close bout and Barker failed to shine against a fighter that most top middleweights would have dominated.
Spada, 30, has spent the vast majority of his career facing 2nd and 3rd tier opposition. In the two fights where he stepped up against quality top tier opposition, Spada was beaten twice by Sebastian Zbika. The fights were close, but Spada clearly lost both of them.
Barker should win this fight on Saturday as long as he boxes and keeps jabbing and moving all night. Barker can’t afford to let Spada get in close because he’s got an excellent uppercut and throws well to the body. He could hurt Barker if he’s able to set up shop and unload at close range.
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