Barker looking for Super Six of his own
Unbeaten Middleweight “Dazzling” Darren Barker admits he’s been casting an envious eye towards the Super Middleweight division and the exciting new Super Six World Boxing Classic.
Barker’s stable mate and reigning WBC World Champ Carl Froch is one of the “Super Six” battling it out for Super Middleweight superiority and Barker says it’s a tournament that excites him as a boxer and a boxing fan.
Barker is the reigning Commonwealth Middleweight title holder and he will attempt to add the British title to his already impressive resume on Saturday when he clashes with former champ Wayne Elcock at the Brentwood Centre.
The Hennessy Sports event is live on ITV4 from 7:30pm and Barker believes a win can set him on course to follow in Froch’s footsteps in 2010. “This is a massive fight for me and when you look at Wayne’s pedigree and experience you’d have to say it’s my biggest test to date but I’m ready for it,” said Barker.
“Winning a British title has been a dream of mine since I started boxing but I have World title ambitions as well and hopefully that’s something I can look at next year.”
Barker has sparred countless rounds with Froch as well as a stint sparring Mikkel Kessler, the Danish hero who also features in the Super Six tournament. “I know from sparring top fighters like Froch and Kessler that I can compete at the highest level, that’s where I want to be and I feel I’m ready for anyone now.
The Chelsea fanatic says he would relish a Super Six tournament at Middleweight. “The Super Six has been terrific for boxing and I think it will rejuvenate the sport in the same way the Champions League did for football. I’d love if there was one at Middleweight that I could be part of. It’s all about the best fighting the best and that’s what the fans want to see and as a boxer they are exactly the kind of fights you want to be involved in.”
Barker’s clash with Elcock on Saturday headlines an action packed night of Championship boxing at the Brentwood Centre. Colchester’s Lee Purdy makes the first defence of his Southern Area Welterweight title against Mark Douglas while the undercard action also includes the return of Waltham Abbey Super Middleweight Daniel Cadman following a three year hiatus while exciting light middleweight Yassine El Maachi also features alongside unbeaten prospects Bobby Ward, Phill Fury and Steve Barnes.
Tickets for the bout priced £30 and £80 are available from the Ticketline box office on 0844 888 4402 or via www.ticketline.co.uk .
GAVIN GET'S HIS OWN HAND OF FROG!
Birmingham hot-shot Frankie Gavin has promised to dish out some revenge for the Irish when he takes on French opponent Samir Tergaoui.
Gavin, who's parents are from Tipperary, was left gutted last week when Thierry Henry's handball to set up Williams Gallas' extra-time winner sent Ireland crashing out of the World Cup.
The 23-year-old takes on the hard-hitting Frenchman Tergaoui - who has seven KO wins inside three round - on December 5th at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle on Amir Khan's undercard.
"I'm going to smash Tergaoui up for the people of Ireland who feel the same about the French as I do at the moment," fumed Gavin, Britain's first ever world amateur champion.
"This won't make up for missing out on the biggest football tournament in the world, but it will make me feel a lot better after I've knocked him out,"
"I don't normally need anger to get me geared up for a fight, but this fight has really got me going and I can't wait to set about him a week on Saturday,"
"He looks like a good strong kid and he can punch so I'm looking forward to testing myself against him."
Gavin has won all four of his fights by stoppage since turning pro earlier this year and says that he has been hitting harder than ever.
"My trainer Anthony Farnell reckons I'm punching twice as hard than when I first started in the gym and I can only get faster and stronger,"
"I think I've made the transition to the pros very well and I'm settling in nicely and learning all the time."
Remaining tickets are available from:
Metro Radio Arena
0844 248 5013 (dedicated line)
Sports Corporation
0845 163 0845
See Tickets
0871 220 0260
Amir Khan v Dmitriy Salita is live on Sky Box Office and in high definition on Sky Box Office HD on Saturday 5 December. To order the fight call: 08442 410 888
Sierra Fight Night: Fitzgerald predicting early night for Murtagh in Irish title clash
Anthony Fitzgerald is predicting a win inside four rounds when he meets Lee Murtagh for the vacant Irish Super Middleweight title on the Sierra Fight Night at the National Stadium in Dublin on Saturday, December 5th.
The bill is headlined by reigning European Middleweight Champion Matthew Macklin’s clash with Uruguayan champ, Rafa Sosa Pintos but Dubliner Fitzgerald believes he can steal the show with a knockout performance.
The inner city fans favourite is predicting an early night that will secure him an early Christmas present with the Irish title. “I’ll be surprised if Murtagh’s still there to hear the bell for the fourth round. I think he’ll look at my record and underestimate me and my power. I’m not going to go looking for the knockout, I’ll be nice and patient but I genuinely believe I’ll get him out of there early.“
Fitzgerald was ringside in Limerick earlier this month to see Murtagh warm up for their bout with a points win over German Marcen Gierke and he says he saw nothing to frighten him.
“I wasn’t very impressed with him but to be fair it might have been an off night,” said Fitzgerald. “When you look at his record he has a hell of a lot of experience in comparison to me. He’s been a pro now for almost 15 years while I only turned professional just over a year ago. He’s had 39 fights compared to my 7 and he knows how to do the Championship distance, he’s had eleven ten round fights and one twelve rounder so you have to respect that kind of experience.”
Fitzgerald’s prediction of an early night was supported by Jim Rock recently when “The Pink Panther” analysed Murtagh’s win in Limerick for RTÉ. “It’s great to have someone as experienced as Jim Rock saying that he believes I can stop Murtagh. Jim’s won Irish titles at 4 different weights so he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to Irish title fights and it would be great to match his record or even beat it.”
Should Fitzgerald emerge from next weekend’s clash with the Irish title belt around his waist he admits he may have some unfinished business with Dublin rival Robbie Long. The two men have met twice already this year in domestic classics and with one win a piece a third encounter between the two seems inevitable at some point.
“I’m sure that Robbie will be the first in the queue to challenge me when I win the Irish title. He deserves his chance, we’ve already had two great fights and we’re one a piece. He’s tough as nails so I have a lot of respect for him.”
Fitzgerald lost their first encounter in January but reversed that result last month in another thriller at the National Stadium. “I was a lot more seasoned as a professional coming into the rematch and it showed. I used my boxing ability second time around but the first time I was still basically fighting like an amateur and I put everything into the first three rounds and had nothing left after that. It was a great learning experience though and I showed I had learned from it in the second fight but I’d have no problem getting it on again with Robbie next year with the Irish title on the line.”
The Sierra Fight Night also features a second Irish title fight with Dublin’s Paul Hyland making the first defence of his Irish Super Bantamweight title against Eugene Heagney. Unbeaten Cork based Cuban sensation Luis Garcia will also be in action alongside undefeated Dundalk Lightweight Michael Kelly, Omagh’s Damian Taggart and new Belfast pro Jamie Conlan.
Tickets for the Sierra Fight Night priced from €40 are available from Ticketmaster (phone 0818 719 300 or visit ticketmaster.ie) and all usual outlets.
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