Martinez vs. Barker: Sergio to destroy Darren in stay busy fight on October 1st

By Boxing News - 08/08/2011 - Comments

Image: Martinez vs. Barker: Sergio to destroy Darren in stay busy fight on October 1stBy Scott Gilfoid: In selecting one of his weaker opponents in recent memory, former WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (47-2-2, 26 KO’s) will be facing the No.3 ranked World Boxing Council middleweight contender Darren Barker (23-0, 14 KO’s) on October 1st at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

This is is what you would call a stay busy fight for the 36-year-old Martinez while he waits on bigger fights against the likes of WBC middleweight paper champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr to decide whether he wants to step it up and face Martinez. Barker is a couple steps down from the guys that Martinez has been fighting in the past three years.

You can’t blame Martinez for wanting to take an easy fight, especially when the World Boxing Council makes it so easy for him by giving giving the slow-handed, slow footed Barker the inflated ranking of number #3. But you’d like to see Barker at least take on someone that can give him a fight and make it at least a tiny bit interesting.

Sadly, Barker isn’t the man for the job. I’ve seen hi fight countless times and was always struck by slow and easy to hit he was. He’s never faced anyone remotely as good as Martinez, yet he’s looked terrible against the domestic and European level guys that he’s fought as far as I’m concerned. In Barker’s last three fights, he’s beaten the following guys: Danny Butler, Affif Belghecham and Domenica Spada.

None of them are exactly household names among boxing fans unless you’re the really, really hardcore variety that know the European level fighters by heart. The thing is going from facing those guys to fighting the best middleweight in the world is going to be an impossible hurdle. It’s going to be a mismatch. At Martinez’s age, I’d rather him not waste any part of his career facing fodder. I want to see Martinez facing guys like Marco Antonio Rubio so we can see the best of Martinez, not a slaughter like the Barker fight.



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