I've always rated Barker, and I reckon I would pick him against some of the other champs at 160 - Strum and Pirog for example but Martinez is on a different level.
A lot of casual boxing fans here in Britain that I have spoken to think Barker has a very good chance, some reckon he'll win easily - the problem with these types of people though is they have never seen Martinez fight and have only been spoon fed the odd domestic dust up on a Saturday night - basically clueless.
So what do you experts think? Poll following.. (I use the term expert loosely)
I believe Barker will give a good showing of himself, I dont think he will get humiliated and KO'ed. I think he'll have his moments on the middle to later round (Martinez can sometimes switch off a little) but ultimately lose by UD, something like 116-112.
Being generous to Barker, i voted slim at best.
He's gonna get soundly beaten. His slim chance is Martinez having an off night whilst he has his best night. And even then Martinez would probably still win.
There are people who think barker will win? he should consider himself lucky if he gets out of the ring without permanent brain damage. Martinez will be dominant, win every round and win by KO.
Not seen much of Barker, just another solid fighter probably who will get dominated by the #1 Middleweight in the world. But I could be wrong, who knows that he could pull off what Matthew Macklin did against Sturm, people gave him a slim chance and in the end, made a good showing of himself.
Best of luck to him anyways. He's gonna need it.