By Scott Gilfoid: No. 3 ranked WBC middleweight contender Darren Barker (23-0, 14 KO’s) will be the next victim to fight former WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (47-2-2, 26 KO’s) in a fight that’s scheduled for October 1st at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

It’s pretty much academic at this point that the 29-year-old Barker is going to be totally ripped apart and slaughtered like a hog by the 36-year-old Martinez. This is one of those mismatches that just makes you want to cringe in thinking about. You’ve got a slow Euro fighter in Barker who fights in a robotic manner without speed and who has faced little more than 2nd and 3rd tier domestic/European level opposition his entire career. And now he’s being thrown in the lion pit with Martinez.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going to happen. This reminds me of the movie “The Vikings” with Kirk Douglass and Ernest Borgnine. There’s a part in the movie where Borgnine jumps into a pit with a pack of angry dogs and is ripped apart. This is what I see happening with Barker, and there’s nothing he can do about it. He’s slow, rigid as stick, and not particularly powerful. He’s just fodder for Martinez to blast around the ring and have a good time.

Barker said this to the sun.co.uk: “I think I’ve got the style to beat him — and I’ll prove it when we fight on October 1. Preparations are going well and I’m very confident. I’m really looking forward to getting out there now and shocking the world. It’s a dream come true and I just think the timing’s right. All I can say is make sure you tune in because you’ll be seeing history in the making.”

I bet. Barker isn’t shocking anybody other than fans who will be shocked at how easily gets whipped by Martinez. Barker is going to go out there with his slow punching attack and walk right into a straight left hand that puts him down for the count. I have a vision of a Paul Williams-esque type knockout.