Comments Thread For: Sergio Martinez Stalls Darren Barker's Brave Stand

[bojangles1987]

Every fighter except Pacquiao and Mayweather is entitled to one fight where they struggle when they aren't expected to. Martinez won, and can hopefully move on to some interesting fights at 160 and 154.

[Zerwas1]

Barker took a dive. How do you get KO'd from a punch on the glove?

Punch was just partially blocked, but the important thing about it is, that he hit him with the inside part of his glove where it isn't padded.
Could also be a temple shot.

[nycsmooth]

I'd like to see sergio go to 154 &fight canelo...he gives up toooo much if ge goes up in wt...

[amayseng]

Barker took a dive. How do you get KO'd from a punch on the glove?

The replay from a better angle clearly shows the punch landing

with vigor.

No reason to start nonsense.

[amayseng]

That's how you can see who the hater non boxing fans are. Why can't people just see that Barker came to fight and Sergio slept on him a lil. Why does getting hit and nose broke in a boxing match make you a bum? Fights are not supposed to be competitive no more because one guy has a bigger name than the other? Ridiculous.

Agreed G,

Barker came to last, stayed in that AA defense 90% of the time


They guy barely opened up and fought a good strategic fight for himself.


Sergio ultimately opened him up and got him out.

I found it intriguing and was asking for barker to throw more.

But seeing him ko'd put into perspective y he was Leary to

[spyvsspy]

Agreed G,

Barker came to last, stayed in that AA defense 90% of the time


They guy barely opened up and fought a good strategic fight for himself.


Sergio ultimately opened him up and got him out.

I found it intriguing and was asking for barker to throw more.

But seeing him ko'd put into perspective y he was Leary to

My thoughts exactly.

[amayseng]

******. Serg did this performance on purpose. Hands down whole fight. Serg is playing everyone. Watch his next match (if it's against a big name). If you watch boxing, if you have watched serg, than you can tell he let off. He wants the big fights. He is willing to move up 5lbs, go down 10lbs, and even look vunerable just to land a big name. Those who think different, you've been punked

I absolutely agree and thought this before the fight

even started.

And don't blame him a bit for it.

If he knocked this guy out in 2 like he did pwill

Mayweather would be hiding under his bed.

[jnapoli85]

Although you can't base Sergio off his performance last night because i am inclined to agree with I believe it was Harold Lettermen that said it, that Sergio didn't look like he trained very hard. With that being said I honestly don't think that Martinez has what it takes to hand with the top guys in and around his division. He wouldn't be able to hand with Floyd or Manny he would be broken down and knocked out, also i really don't like how he fights with his hands by his side like Roy Jones Jr used to. he really doesn't have the speed to do that thats why he kept taking a lot of those shots last night.

[Ravens Fan]

It absolutely bugs me when a guys accomplishments get panned & slighted. U forget that Serg started fighting @15. The man is 36 yrs old. He really is a career wwelter who recently grew into jmw & fights between there & MW. He beat kermit cintron 3 diff ways in one night & was given a draw. He fought P will (who no one else would fight) on short notice & was robbed in the 1st fight. & sparked him in the 2nd. So that 2 vickies on a guy most fighters in 2 divs avoided. Then he beat the recognized MW champ Then Dzizurik. He looked sensational in just about every fight. Barker came into this bought w/ a very concentrated game plan that did not involve offense. He he serg more than usual. But sergio has always been hittable. His entire offense is predicated on luring opps to reach & try to hit his unprotected head then spring into attack w/ lightning counters. Barker took care not to reach or really try to hit SM unless in very close range...It was a wrinkle SM did not seem to have anticipated.

In the past Serg has shown the ability to adjust & follow a superior gameplan to beat opps. As well to show skills we hadn't seen from him in previous fights. To say he is overrated is shortsighted. Barker gave a better acct of himself than expected...kudos. But serg came from having a broken nose to basically fighting the MW vesion of pac/vs clottey....to winning by ko. I firmly firmly believe had Barker oppened up & looked to score....he would've been ended by rd 6-7....no question. He was the equivalent of a team slowing a basketball game down to half court games so not to get a high flying/high octane team going. The whole point was to extend the fight to be there at the end. But the state of barkers face tells the story (and he was DEFENSIVE the entire night)

w/ all that said no question he desrves his space as 3rd best in the world. Both floyd & pac have looked mediocre in fights & it doesn't change there status or rating. Sometimes opps have a style that makes another's look bad...plus..wuts wrong w/ a competative fight. These are pros...it's supposed to be competative. & if u think serg is overrated...tell me who u think will beat him from 54-60....Most likely I'd disagree. I could see pirog's style as a problem...but unlike his 19 or 20 opps serg hits back....hard. def not the same. Sturm should have the style pedigree & exp but He seems to be lacking desire these days...who else?

You don't even give Sergio enough credit. Because he actually did not start boxing until he was 20. And again this is just my opinion and it is all based on on who he has fought.

As far as no one wanting to fight Paul Williams I believe it was because Williams and his people are difficult to deal with, want proof? Paul wanted 50-50 to fight Pavlik when he had never even fought in the middleweight division. And even his best wins have huge question marks. Because His win over Margacheato has been debated and many of the so called experts believe he actually lost that fight. He also never dominated any division and is only 2-2 in title fights and lost to Quintana and looked very bad in doing so. He gets credit for knocking Quintana out but that looks like it was more of a fluke then anything else. Two of his best wins were over very faded fighters that were pushing 40 and neither of them have fought since. I also believe Sergio beat him the first time and then he got knocked cold by him. And then, in my opinion, he lost to Lara in every way accept on the scorecards. So, yes I believe Williams was way, way, way, way overrated. And even though I still think Sergio won the first fight it was still a close fight with a fighter that I believe was not that good and highly overrated.

As far as Pavlik is concerned he was, or is, a very limited fighter who has problems with movement and speed. Which Sergio has plenty of yet Pavlik was still able to dominate four rounds of the fight. Or I should say is was real easy to score 5-8 for Pavlik. And that is not even taking into consideration what kind of personal demons Kelly has been dealing with in the past few years.

I also see no need to mention Dzinzirk again and I didn't mention Cintron because I don't think he deserves to be mentioned. And I also did not make myself clear earlier. It is not that I don't believe that Sergio isn't a good fighter because I actually believe that he is. And as I stated I like him. However, you can't compare him to Pacman or Floyd simply because he hasn't fought anywhere near the same level of competition and doesn't have the longevity of doing so, so again no comparison. And he has yet to dominate the middleweight division or for that matter any other division. Because as of today the only two true middleweights he has beaten are Pavlik and Barker.

So, based on what I just stated and what I saw last night I see a good fighter with skill. However, I just don't see one of the best P4P fighters in the world. But, that is not saying he can't get there I just don't think, as many others seem to, that he has arrived yet. And therefore in my humble opinion I believe that he is overrated.

[Bushbaby]

Has it ever even occured to anyone in this tread that maybe Barker is simply better than we thought?