Darren Barker is aiming to complete a Commonwealth double when he boxes Australia's Ben Crampton at the York Hall in Bethnal Green on a Hennessy Sports show.
The Barnet boxer believes he is in the best form of his career for his fight with unbeaten Crampton (20-0-1) for the vacant Commonwealth Middleweight Title. Sky Sports will televise the show that also features an English Light-Welterweight Title fight between Lenny Daws and Nigel Wright.
Barker has compiled an unbeaten record since turning professional after winning the Gold Medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
He will be full of confidence after taking out Greg Barton in three rounds last month in his first fight for ten months.>> “It meant a lot to me to win the Commonwealth Games gold medal and it would be great to do the double by winning the Commonwealth as a pro," said Darren.
“A lot has changed since the Commonwealth Games. I’ve filled out a lot more and I couldn’t have wished for it to go any better with my trainer Tony Sims and promoter Mick Hennessy.
“If Ican win the Commonwealth title, you never know where it might lead.”
Darren has recently shared a ring with Mikkel Kessler, who recently lost his WBC and WBA world titles to Welshman Joe Calzaghe. The trip to Denmark for sparring with Kessler followed a ten-day training trip to France where he did altitude training in the Alps.
“It was great experience sparring with Kessler for a week and I more than held my own,” said Barker. “The quality he has got means the sparring was really beneficial for me.
"He’s at the pinnacle of his game and was a double world champion at the time so sparring with someone like that can only bring you on and I’ve picked up some things. It left me feeling really optimistic about the future.”
Lenny Daws is aiming for a second professional win over Nigel Wright for the English Light-Welterweight Title to get him back into contention for the British Title.
The rematch is chief support to Barnet's Darren Barker versus Australian Ben Crampton for the Commonwealth Middleweight Title in a clash of two unbeatens at the York Hall in Bethnal Green on a Hennessy Sports show with title partners GoldenPalace.net. Sky Sports will televise.
Daws believes winning the English belt will help get him back into contention for the domestic title. Daws won the British belt by out-pointing Wright (Hartlepool) in May last year after impressive stoppage wins over Colin Lynes and Oscar Hall.
But Lenny suffered his first pro defeat after an excellent encounter with Barry Morrison in January. He lost a split decision to the Scot in his first defence and now Lenny is on a mission to get the belt back.
“Once I get through Wrighty I want to fight for the British Title next year and win it outright,” said Lenny. “Nigel is awkward but I felt once I got going against him last year I won it convincingly in the end.
“If I can do a better job on him this time then hopefully it will help get me closer to a British Title fight. Since losing to Barry Morrison, Colin Lynes has won it and he’s not interested in fighting me at the moment so it’s a bit of a waiting game. I have to get myself into a mandatory position to try and force Colin to fight me again.”
Promoter Mick Hennessy said: "We thought Lenny won the fight against Morrison clearly."