Did Darren Barker impress you?

[kirasmoon]

Yes! I will be looking forward to his next fight. You know, Americans call fighters like Barker, Pirog, and Ishida bums, but they make better fights than most Americans fighters.

[ts33]

He impressed me. After the way Martinez beat Dzinziruk i didn't really think Barker would be able to have such success boxing him. I honestly think the HBO team didn't give him enough credit - they made it sound like he wasn't throwing anything at all.

Was surprised by how few clean shots Martinez landed all night - everything seemed to be bouncing off Barker's gloves and Barker seemed to always be perfectly positioned to slip/block Sergio's counters

Barker-Pirog anyone?

[intoccabile]

He impressed me. After the way Martinez beat Dzinziruk i didn't really think Barker would be able to have such success boxing him. I honestly think the HBO team didn't give him enough credit - they made it sound like he wasn't throwing anything at all.

Was surprised by how few clean shots Martinez landed all night - everything seemed to be bouncing off Barker's gloves and Barker seemed to always be perfectly positioned to slip/block Sergio's counters

Barker-Pirog anyone?

What suprised me most was the style that he brought. I realize a lot of it had to do with martinez being a southpaw, so he had to high guard as opposed to his usual style - He usually looks a lot like Carl Froch/George Groves but he was a different fighter last night.

It worked for him. Very impressed. Kind of curious to see what Murray brings to the table against Sturm now. He's a fairly 1 dimensional fighter but After the Macklin fight and now Barkers performance, there's reason to think the MW division has a lot of diamonds in the rough waiting to be dug up.

I can't help but think all of these up and comers should try and get a hold of either Lee or Chavez Jr while they can. They are both HBO fighters, one of which holds a title and the other seems to be being groomed for a Martinez fight. It would mean HBO exposure (which would be a decent paycheck, better than their norm) and a damn good chance at winning as neither one of them seem to be any good (IMO).

[daggum]

Why would you wish that on him? He's one of the nicest, most humble guys in boxing, a hero that put his own life at risk to prevent an attack outside a nightclub. He just fought the P4P No3 & give it everything and made a right go of it despite being wrote off by virtually everyone. How can you not like the guy?

and he lost that fight as well.

[daggum]

If Pirog isn't a Bum then there is no way you can call Barker a bum. he has a better resume, younger, more fights/experience and for all we know would have done teh same to Jacobs if given the chance.

It baffles me how people thought Barker could be a bum yet can claim Pirog is some world beater just because he beat Jacobs.

better resume? he's never beaten anyone as good as jacobs or jantuah. he's struggled against domestic guys like alguessen and spada. pirog has dominated everyone he's fought. yeah maybe barker would have beaten jacobs or maybe he would have collapsed to his knees from a grazing punch. fact is he didn't do anything to jacobs because he only fought hand picked opponents. exact reason he was chosen to fight martinez.

[dan_cov]

and he lost that fight as well.

I don't think many people would stand much of a chance against a gang armed with glass bottles and such.
I also don't think many men would be brave enough to jump in and try split it up, many say they would but when **** come to shove they wouldn't at all. Darren did though

[daggum]

I don't think many people would stand much of a chance against a gang armed with glass bottles and such.
I also don't think many men would be brave enough to jump in and try split it up, many say they would but when **** come to shove they wouldn't at all. Darren did though

i'm surprised he remembers being beaten to a pulp by a gang with weapons yet he doesn't remember being cuffed by martinez's soft hook.

[Fairweather]

I thought Barker fought well but i also thought that Martinez was poor ...if that makes sense .

That's a great avatar.

I had Barker edging the 2nd round and definitely winning rounds 3, 4 and 5 then he gradually seemed to fade. Hearing the commentators it sounds like he's had a problem finishing fights due to stamina before.

[Southpaw Stinger]

He did better than I thought he would. I'll give the dude that.

[dan_cov]

i'm surprised he remembers being beaten to a pulp by a gang with weapons yet he doesn't remember being cuffed by martinez's soft hook.

Soft shot? Did you not see the torque on that hook? Couldn't of been that soft if it perforated his eardrum. The first shot that hurt him was a vicious clean shot to the temple.