By Terence Dooley
Darren Barker, 27, annexed the British and Commonwealth middleweight belts with a dazzling display of boxing at the Brentwood Centre, Essex Saturday night. Barker, who won Commonwealth gold as an amateur, out-slicked Bristol’s Danny Butler, who was brought in after Wayne Elcock pulled out off the fight, for five rounds before hammering his man throughout the sixth and seventh stanzas to bring a well-timed intervention from referee Richie Davis.
Barker (159¾lb) almost retired from the sport after younger brother Gary, a talented young boxer, died in a road crash in 2006. Tony Sims, who trained both the Barker boys, convinced Darren to return to the ring. The fighter has vindicated this faith over the past two years.
Danny (159½lb) fought, and lost to, Darren McDermott on the 13th of this month; the youngster pushed McDermott hard but was on the wrong end of a 95-96 margin. Butler, however, remained in training ahead of an appearance on a charity show. When the call came the Bristolian elected to travel into enemy territory for the biggest fight of his career.
Indeed, Butler came out firing in the early going, seeking to upset the rhythm of Barker. Darren, though, was unflustered by Butler’s charges; the Barnet-based boxer had delighted his fans by gliding into the ring to the reggae song Liquidator and he was soon concocting his own blend of boxing and banging.
A thirty-second burst of punching at the end of the first round saw Butler barely touch Barker, who easily slipped and turned from the shots. Barker then played to his strengths, using his jab to frustrate Butler before utilising his left hook as a disguise for a looping right hand, a la Lennox Lewis.
Barker started doubling up on the left; hitting Butler with a left uppercut to the body followed by a glancing left to the head. Danny, though, fired a warning shot by catching Barker with a solid left hook in round four.
Jane Couch, who promotes Butler, gave her man as much verbal support as possible, even tumbling off her chair at one point after hurling some directions at her fighter. Danny, though, was plummeting out off the contest by the fifth stanza. Barker’s jab was dominating proceedings, his right was getting warmed up and, ominously, his left hook was starting to land.
Davis had warned Butler that he would have to stop the contest if the punishment continued. Tex Woodward, who trains Butler, leapt onto the ring apron early in the seventh after seeing his man take a left hook. Davis spotted Woodward’s wave of the white towel and the ref jumped in before Barker could land any more shots, halting the fight at 0:47 of the round. It was a compassionate act; Butler was a good few levels below Barker, who could be heading towards world class.
Still, there is the small matter of Barker versus European boss Matthew Macklin, a classic tussle between a boxer, Barker, and a puncher, Macklin, the fact that Darren can hit a bit and Matthew can box adds to the intrigue surrounding this clash. However, Mick Hennessey, who won the rights to stage the fight when Macklin was British incumbent only to see Matthew go for the EBU title, believes that Macklin has swerved his man.
“We would love that fight. The person you need to ask about it is Matthew Macklin, because he doesn’t fancy it,” blasted Hennessey when asked about the contest. “We’ve got the British and Commonwealth, he’s got the European, let’s do it and bring all the belts together.”
Indeed, Mick believes that Barker has shown enough to suggest that he could leapfrog Macklin and head straight for a world title. “It was a beautiful master class tonight. That is what Darren can do. We knew Danny had come in off a ten-rounder and was fit as a fiddle, so Darren knew Danny had nothing to lose and would come out swinging and go for it. Darren worked behind the jab and did it beautifully,” purred the promoter.
“We decide not to tell him about Elcock’s withdrawal until we’d nailed down the Butler match. He wanted to fight Wayne Elcock with Wayne being a former British champion and world title challenger but this is boxing. I think that fight has gone now. The main aim was to get the British title. That was a dream of Darren’s but he is far beyond this level, he is a world-class fighter. I need to move him onto the world scene now.”
ITV said farewell to boxing last night, the broadcaster has not renewed its contracts and is cutting back on the sport; however, although the withdrawal of Elcock left everyone feeling a little flat, Barker’s champagne boxing, and emotive back-story, saved the promotion. Mick, who has a TV-worthy stable of boxers, will surely rue ITV’s departure.
“I’ve got a few things in the pipeline and we’ll disclose things in the New Year,” said Mick when asked about the TV situation. “We’ve got John Murray, John O’Donnell, Carl Froch, Lenny Daws, Tyson Fury, the list goes on, they are not only class fighters with class titles but they have got marquee status as well. Champions are fantastic to have, Commonwealth and British especially, but these guys have the potential to go all the way to world titles.”
Barker electrified the crowd here in Brentwood; he sold a lot of tickets and was regaled with anti-Macklin chants. A fight between the two would capture the boxing public’s imagination. Darren, though, is concentrating on his own performances at the moment.
“You always want to do well and look well but we knew we had a job to do and this was all about winning the British title. It is a dream come true for me. You always want to put in a good performance and get people talking but I think it was a professional job and I was just using my boxing brain. I’m over the moon to have done it,” declared Barker.
“The jab was working really well, it felt really sharp, and that was the punch that everything worked off. I got the right hand going then went back to the left hand and started banging the jab and left hook. I was trying to break him down.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Danny, he came in and saved the show, he wasn’t just there for a pay day - he gave it a go. I had no idea that Wayne was out and didn’t care who I faced. I knew that whoever it was it would be some geezer with two arms and two legs who was trying to take my title away from me. It made no difference who it was: Elcock, Macklin or Butler, it was all about the British title.”
“I’m not going to slag Macklin off”, continued Barker, “he went for the European title and won it so I’d love that fight or to go for world honours, this fight was a dream come true but it was a stepping stone towards my world title dream.
“I know, and everyone in this room knows, that I can beat Macklin, he is a total one-trick pony, he just comes looking to knock you out and I know I’d make him look silly – I’d stop him. My boxing skills would be the factor in that fight. I’d out-box him and pick up the European title.”
As mentioned above, Darren took a timeout after losing his brother and best friend; he told me that he now dedicates all his wins to Gary.
“I hope he is up there feeling proud and putting his thumbs up. I dedicate everything I win to Gary. If it weren’t me doing it he’d be doing it himself. I tried to get back to the gym after the accident but it wasn’t happening. Then I went away but there was a void and the void was boxing – I missed it. I’m so glad I didn’t walk away. I think I was maybe going a bit stale beforehand and now I’m not doing it just for me, I’m doing it for Gary, there are two of us in there when we fight,” declared Barker.
Barker rises to 21-0 (14 early); he is entering his prime years, a fight with Macklin may happen in 2010, if it does not take place the Londoner will surely look to fight an international opponent, his jab is a class above this level and his skills are starting to come together at just the right time. The odd defensive lapse aside, such as opening up his body when going for the left hook, Barker is looking the part in recent fights.
Danny Butler has felt the pain of defeat twice in recent weeks; however, 16 completed rounds against title level opposition will hold the boxer in good stead. Butler picked out the positives from last night’s defeat.
“I was a bit disappointed but I took the fight at late notice and took a big step up in class. He is a British and Commonwealth champion so I feel proud of myself. I took it for the experience and because I thought I could win and I can comeback in 2010, my time will come again,” promised Butler.
“I’d had a week off after the McDermott fight and was training for a Help The Heroes fitness test, as my brother is serving in Afghanistan. I knew I was still conditioned from the McDermott fight. I made the weight easier for this fight than the last one. He has got five years of experience on me. I had nothing to lose and gave it my all. I’ve taken a lot of experience from these two cracking fights and what an experience I’ve had in the past two weeks. I’ll take it all back to the gym.”
Butler falls to 18-3 (3).
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