Darren Barker vs. Steven Bendall

[Toney]

I have never seen Barker. Bendall is not too good...

Has Bendall got any chances in this fight?

[brown bomber]

Why is Bendall not too good?

[SeasideSlugger]

Barker should have this i'd have thought. He does tend to get tagged a bit and his chin aint the best but neithers Bendalls and he's coming to the end of the line.

Good boxer Barker, not sure if he's got it on the world stage and it is only early days but euro level definitely, just wish he could bang a bit harder.

[TomPodmore]

I was about to say the same thing (why isn’t Bendall too good?)

Bendall is a big step up from Barker’s last opponent, unbeaten but green Ben Crampton. I was in the minority that wasn’t impressed by the Londoner in that fight. He won well enough but showed he has a power shortage – the Aussie did give him plenty of free whacks and still wasn’t hurt.

Stevie, for all his faults (dropping his hands whilst in range, etc), has a chin of iron, is a skilful southpaw and is up for this. He told me last week that he has to win this; its his last chance after defeats against Wayne Elcock (English title), Scott Dann (British) and a last-minute one against Sebastian Sylvester (European).

Bendall has beaten some good fighters in amassing a 28-3 (14) record: Lee Blundell, Donovan Smillie, Mike Algoet, Ahmet Dottuev and Kreshnik Qato.

The former English champion has also been tipped by a man who has met both, Wolverhampton’s Conroy McIntosh – a hard-hitting middleweight who put Barker on the deck twice when they met in 2006. Bendall met the same man a few months later and dropped and outboxed him in Weston-Super-Mare.

I’m going down to the York Hall to support Stevie. I smell an upset, though it wouldn’t be one for me.

[SouthLondonsFinest]

theres only one davey stewart

[brown bomber]

Maybe he's not too good because he's not 24-0 (22ko's) and wbu champion?

[rooq]

Originally Posted by TomPodmore

Bendall is a big step up from Barker’s last opponent, unbeaten but green Ben Crampton. I was in the minority that wasn’t impressed by the Londoner in that fight. He won well enough but showed he has a power shortage – the Aussie did give him plenty of free whacks and still wasn’t hurt.

to his credit, barker wasn't happy with his own performance - which is saying something after winning by such a wide margin. certain other boxers may have been proclaiming themselves world beaters after a win like that.

i think and hope barker will improve and at least reach the pinnacle of the domestic scene.

Very nice boxer is Barker, but yes, is desperately lacking in the power department. Bit of a shame, because you need it to be competing with the big boys in this division

Still, can challenge for European honours

[Toney]

Originally Posted by jeff thomas

Why is Bendall not too good?

Weak, fights chin up, no defence, no power, menthally weak, limited skills... And so on and so on...

Barker looked ok. He has nice jab.

[Max Molyneux]

Barker should fight Smigga after taking Bendall away when Steve was originally supposed to be fighting Paul.

Barker is looking a class opperator but he still needs more fights before being put in with the top domestic guys such as Elcock, Eastman and Smith. He could maybe beat those guys but with abit more of a build up we may have the next real talent to take over from Eastmans previous supremacy.

Bendall has been a good fighter in the past but did not look at all composed last night.

[nufc16]

surely smith cant be considered a top domestic level fighter yet? certainly not in the eastman/elcock bracket anyway.

smiths and barkers resumes are of a pretty similar standard. infact id probably say barker was ahead of smith given his commonwealth title. smiths had more fights, but i think barkers been pushed forward more quickly and they now seem to be of a similar standing domestically.

Originally Posted by nufc16

surely smith cant be considered a top domestic level fighter yet? certainly not in the eastman/elcock bracket anyway.

smiths and barkers resumes are of a pretty similar standard. infact id probably say barker was ahead of smith given his commonwealth title. smiths had more fights, but i think barkers been pushed forward more quickly and they now seem to be of a similar standing domestically.

To be honest I would not count Smith as being a top five British middleweight but I do still think that Barker needs a couple more fights before being pushed right to the top and facing Elcock and Eastman.

I would like to see Barker fight Rhodes next or another decent import. He looks good and he has the look of a kid who can improve but the Commenwealth belt has a lot of envious eyes that at this moment in Barkers career would be too much for him.

Barker looked good

I think he's ready for a British title shot personally. This was no contest, he won every second of every round. He is improving, but we need to see how far

[nufc16]

Originally Posted by dwilson

To be honest I would not count Smith as being a top five British middleweight but I do still think that Barker needs a couple more fights before being pushed right to the top and facing Elcock and Eastman.

I would like to see Barker fight Rhodes next or another decent import. He looks good and he has the look of a kid who can improve but the Commenwealth belt has a lot of envious eyes that at this moment in Barkers career would be too much for him.

i can see him having one more fight before he steps up to fight for the british. though then again theres a few up and comers who'll be wanting cracks at the same time, so may well have to bide his time with a few decent european opponents.