By Terence Dooley
On September 18, Matthew Macklin and Darren Barker are set to engage in that rarest of events, a genuine fifty-fifty fight between two contenders looking to step up to the next level. Barker, the British and European 160lb champion, is undefeated in 22 contests, 14 KOs, and believes that Macklin is his stepping stone to bigger and better things.
Macklin, 26-2 (18), has been in this type of crossroad encounter before, his 2006 British light-middleweight title fight against Salford’s Jamie Moore was hugely anticipated here in the UK and the circumstances, two fighters with it all to prove meeting when at the top of their game, resulted in an epic encounter, which Moore won by tenth-round KO. This time, though, the Birmingham-based fighter believes that the odds are stacked in his favour.
Darren has consistently called for Macklin for the past two years, the BBBoC mandated a fight between the two back in Summer 2009, Mick Hennessy, Barker’s promoter, won the right to stage that one, only for Macklin to vacate the title in order to take on Amin Asikainen for the EBU belt last September. Barker believes that Matthew should have accommodated him at an earlier point; however, Macklin feels that their mutual career trajectories have kept him one step ahead of his rival at all times.
“Obviously the European title shot came my way so I took that,” said Macklin when explaining why the two didn’t fight in 2009. “It is a shame that it didn’t happen then but if it had, and with [Mick] Hennessy promoting it, then it would have probably taken place at Brentwood Leisure Centre and wouldn’t have got the hype it deserved.”
[Mick Hennessy responds: “The fight would have been at the Ally Pally in front of about seven thousand Barker fans. Let’s not forget, Barker is the ticker seller here and not Macklin, he is not a ticket seller in any way, shape or form. I promoted Wayne Elcock versus Macklin at the Ashton Events Centre, it was ridiculous when you consider that it was a Birmingham derby and then looked at the tickets Macklin sold. He thinks he’s a ticket seller but Barker leaves him behind where that is concerned. Darren has got a big following. People were turning up at the Ally Pally box-office for tickets before they were even on sale for his last fight there (the EBU title win over Affif Belghecham). I know what Macklin sold against Elcock. He’s not the draw – Barker is the attraction. I lost the bid for this one to Frank Warren by just under four hundred euros so there wasn’t a big difference, it is one of those things.”]
Macklin continued: “Now we’ve got the British and European titles on the line and Darren’s enhanced his reputation by winning the titles. I enhanced mine by winning the European title and with a points win over Rafael Sosa Pintos in Ireland last December so people have a better perception of where we are both at now, he’s considered a fringe top ten fighter and I’m in The Ring top five.
“It is a really good fight and is happening at the right time. A bit longer and it might not have happened. I could have been fighting for a world title and he could have gone a different route or got beaten. It has happened when everything is at its maximum peak. Fair play to Frank Warren, he won the bids [by lodging a £125,600 purse] and I’m made up it is happening at Birmingham’s old NEC [renamed the LG Arena], which is right near to where I live. Eubank fought Benn there and that was a memorable fight, this one has become the talk of the town. The Birmingham people are all on about this fight, he’s bringing fans from London and doing his part – I’m looking forward to it.”
Still, many British fans were aggrieved when the proposed 2009 meeting was nixed; they felt that Macklin should have accommodated Barker at some point last year or earlier this year. Indeed, his decision to vacate the EBU title back in March led to Barker’s title win over Affif in April, which, in turn, means that Barker will get the majority share, sixty percent, of the purse.
“It would be nice to be defending champion, wouldn’t it”, said Macklin when asked if he regretted vacating the title, “but things happened how they happened. It wasn’t the right time, I got injured before I could fight again and I wanted to vacate the title because I didn’t want to hold things up for the EBU. I think they’ve rewarded me because they kept me as the mandatory, if I’d have held it until I was stripped then I’d have dropped down the rankings.
“It is a bit unfair in one way because if I hadn’t have vacated I’d be getting the lion’s share but it might not have happened had that been the case because I don’t think Barker’d have got a shot at the title without me vacating. The fight’s on now and he’s getting the bigger split of the purse but I get to fight in Birmingham. It is more about winning the fight and enhancing my reputation and profile before moving on for a world title. It is all about where this fight puts me.
“It makes me laugh, really, because people are trying to gain a bit of publicity out of it [Macklin dropping the British title to fight for the European belt] or trying to backslap each other and blow a bit of smoke up each other’s arse to gain a bit of confidence going into this one. Anyone that steps up from the British and vacates it to fight the European is showing a bit of commonsense. If he got the chance to fight for a world title then he’d take it, if he fancied it, and if he stepped up and won the fight how could I slag him for not fighting me for the European? It is just commonsense. If he ducked out for any other reason then I’d say he was swerving me.
“For me to fight him for the British and not to fight Asikainen for the European, who was a tougher fighter, at least on paper, would be laughable, saying I swerved Darren then is laughable. He wasn’t even in the running for the European title back then, I’m not even sure if he was in the running for the shot when I vacated, he just must have been the highest available fighter in the top ten because he wasn’t next in line. I didn’t vacate down to Pirog or Gevor, it was down to an injury, nothing to do with anyone else, and nothing to do with Darren Barker.”
In fact, the 28-year-old believes that his title win far outstrips Barker’s in terms of performance and opponent. “He struggled,” said Macklin when asked to appraise Darren’s decision win over Belghecham.
“A lot of people say it was an off night. I don’t think it was – he ran out of ideas and his stamina was poor but he had looked good for six rounds. When you have an off night it doesn’t work for you from the start. You just can’t get going, the timing isn’t there and you’re rusty from start to finish. You don’t have six good rounds then just have an ‘off night’ for the other six.”
He concluded: “What happened was that he ran out off steam and when he had no ideas left he looked like a rabbit in the headlights.”
Barker netted a Commonwealth gold medal at the 2002 Games here in Manchester; Macklin won the 2001 ABA welterweight crown. “He was a good amateur”, admitted Macklin, “(but) I was a much better amateur.”
“What he achieved as an amateur was that he won a Gold at the Commonwealth Games over here in Manchester, so that tournament got more hype than usual. To be honest the Commonwealth Games is a relatively easy tournament, there are no Russians, no Cubans and no Americans, you might get the odd good Canadian but, usually, the England team is the best team in there.
“Darren Sutherland, god rest his soul, won an Olympic medal and I beat him twice (as an amateur). I then dropped down to welterweight, which I probably shouldn’t, and won the ABAs. But there is no comparison between who I beat as an amateur and who he beat. Andy Lee boxed Barker’s head off as an amateur.”
Boxing deals in black and white, often overlooking the areas in between. You are either a brawler or boxer, chinny or teak tough, a gibbering cheerleader fuelled by nationalistic pride or a straight-up ‘hater’ driven by an equally irrational dislike of a boxer. In this fight, Macklin is cast as the brawler, Barker the boxer, with both guys baulking at these claims and Barker in particular adamant that his own power is underrated. Macklin, however, feels that his boxing brain is being overlooked going into this one.
“I was a much better amateur so people who see him as a stylist are off. They see the tall lad with a jab and assume he’s the better boxer but there is more to it than that,” blasted Macklin.
“Barker ran out off ideas against Belghecham, who is a step up in class but Andy [Lee] lost about twenty seconds to him when they fought last November. I think Barker’s good, I do rate him, otherwise this fight wouldn’t be so eagerly anticipated – a lot of people think he’ll beat me, a lot of people think I’ll beat him. I’m confident of beating him, he seems confident of beating me and he’s looked good in his last few fights but who has he boxed? I watched him in a four rounder the other day and he looked good but the other kid [Greg Barton] was 2-3 so what can you take from that?
“Those types of fights are like a fancy version of being on the bags. Darren is a good fighter, just not good enough to beat me. I looked at him during his amateur career and don’t think that he’d have beaten me at any stage if we’d have met as amateurs, and I’d have beaten him at any stage of his pro career, particularly now.”
However, Macklin struggled during 2008, decision wins over ‘Yori Boy’ Campas, Francis Cheka and Geard Ajetovic failed to showcase the fighter at his best. Matthew believes that his training situation, moving from Billy Graham to Buddy McGirt and then to Richie Woodhall, played a huge part in his off/on form.
He said: “In 2008 I had just left Billy Graham and was just finding my feet, I wasn’t really confident but was still grinding out wins against Campas, Cheka and Geard. Campas knocked out [Alejandro] Garcia in a round the fight after me. Geard had lost on points to Daniel Geale, who lost one to Anthony Mundine, and Dmitry Pirog before he fought me and hasn’t fought since. I didn’t see Barker or anyone else lining up to fight Geard.
“My confidence was a bit low back then and I was caught between styles, but I was still winning. Manchester United can play badly and win 1-0 and they say that is the sign of a good team. I wasn’t boxing to my best but was still winning fights so that shows I’m a good fighter. Last year, I teamed up with Joe Gallagher, got the title shots and produced the form of my career – I’m at the top of my game. Like I say, he wouldn’t have beaten me at any point in his life and especially not now.”
Claims that Barker, who was floored by Conroy McIntosh and wobbled against Paul Samuels earlier in his career, possesses the weaker whiskers has produced a lot of debate, with many pointing to Macklin’s stoppage at the fists of Moore as a sign that his chin could be the one that cracks come the 18th. Macklin smiled when this suggestion was put to him.
“Listen, if anyone thinks me getting stopped by Jamie Moore says anything then they’re clutching at straws. Anyone who watched that fight knows that I was exhausted and had taken better shots (than the ones that put me down) all night long. I was fighting on instinct from rounds two and three, from those rounds on it was all about bottle and desire, because I wanted it so badly – I was running on empty,” he insisted.
“Jamie Moore is a really good fighter and he’s knocked plenty of good people out. Early in the fight, the shots were bouncing off me. If the fight had been stopped by the ref a minute earlier, or gone to points, then I’d have collapsed and gone to hospital anyway, it was pure exhaustion, fatigue and dehydration. Apart from that, I’ve never been down before in my life, amateur, sparring and pro.
“I was dehydrated, Darren’s been down against journeymen when he’s fully hydrated! He got knocked down in the second round against Conroy and he was out on his feet against [Paul] Samuels, those guys were probably too surprised to finish him. When I hit him on the chin he’ll stay down – I’ll clean him out. If he does get up, well look at Elcock and Asikainen, if I hurt you then you ain’t getting through that round. Listen, he isn’t ridiculously chinny, but he is fragile, and I’m a big puncher, so anyone trying to pick up on my loss to Jamie is trying to divert from the questions about Darren’s own chin.
“I’ve been boxing without over-thinking in recent fights and the success has been coming. I’ve gone out there without loading up and trying too hard. It is in my nature to be aggressive and to get into my opponent but I’ve not been trying to force the action in recent fights. I have good boxing ability, look at me as an amateur, a good brain and good talent; I’m a box-fighter and not an out-and-out brawler. I get in there, get the distance and get the shots out. Look at the results. Wayne Elcock, gone. Amin Asikainen, gone. If I hit Darren on the chin then he’s getting knocked out, simple as that.”
Our discussion was almost over, I asked Macklin what he hopes to achieve in this fight and what he is expecting from Barker. “You are bracing yourself for a good fighter with good amateur pedigree who is proven as a pro,” he admitted.
“But I always have a feeling that my time is coming. I believe I’m world class. When my opportunity comes I genuinely believe that I’ll win a world title and defend it many times. I believe that more now than ever. Some people peak at different times in their life, some peak at 21-22 and they are shot by 27 – I feel I’m coming into my peak now.
“Everyone finds their own way to the top, their own way to become a name, and this is an excellent opportunity for me to get there. I’m not going to predict rounds, I will win the fight and do think I will do it whatever way it needs to be done – I’m very confident. I’d be surprised if it was on points, I think I’ll stop him or knock him out. Darren’s a good boxer but Belghecham, Conroy and Samuels caught up with him and hit him on the chin, when I catch him it will be the end of him in the fight.”
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