Darren Barker: greatest middleweight we've seen since Hopkins

Many talk about GGG being this unbeatable phenom, but when you look at a prime Darren Barker you realise that GGG is just a poor imitation of him. Darren Barker had the skills to pay the bills, beating a prime Geale and softening him up for GGG is reminiscent of Mayweather doing a job on the most famous Mancunian since Sir Alex Ferguson, Ricky Hatton. Barker could slug, box, jab, move and this was all with a bad knee and back. Wins over quality fighters such as Rotolo, Mazurek and McKay solidified him as the greatest middleweight of his generation. If GGG ever had the gumption to fight Barker in 2010, the boy would be working as a cleaner at an airport. "Schooled and out of his depth" would have been the headline on ring magazine. If you're a kid who wants to be a boxer, go look back at Darren Barker's numerous legendary encounters; I'm sure they're still available on YouTube. I wanted to write this piece to allow my fellow boxingheads a chance to remember the greatness of one Darren Barker.