Got tickets for this. Not bothered by Barker's opponent i'm more interested by Jones vs Purdy and Camacho vs Clarke. £20 i ain't complaining..
At 4 weeks notice nobody could complain with that, he's always involved in great tear ups(Quillin fight aside as tactics were horrible).
I don't understand why they dont just bill it as purdy v jones main event plus barker. tickets are cheaper than normal matchrooms shows and no opponent with 4 weeks to go we all know its gonna be a 'keep busy' fight which is fair enough just stick purdy v jones as the main fight. Andy Lee in a 'keep busy' fight this week, Barker in the same type of fight in 4 weeks, I've got a feeling Lee v Barker is already penciled in, probably for the summer, possibly main undercard fight for Froch V Kessler??
Eddie seems to like Argentinians, I wonder which one it will be :think http://boxrec.com/ratings.php?sex=M&division=Middleweight&country=AR&pageID=1
Poor effort from Eddie, Darren deserves a decent opponent to get him back on track for another title crack.
Seriously though, would it be that hard to organise a 4 way tournament between Barker, Macklin, Lee and Murray? 3 shows, double headers. 1 in Dublin, 1 in London, 1 in Somewhere else in UK. Big audiences, talking 15-20,000 per show. They all fight each other once, winner is the one with most wins. The competition could be done and wrapped up within 1 year. Guarantee each fighter to receive 300,000-500,000 for the years work. Is this not a no-brainer?
Sounds good in practice but you need some carrot for the winner-ie overall winner fights for a belt or a shot at the widely regarded Number 1 in the division
Macklin made it pretty clear on last night's Ringisde that he sees himself ahead of the others and that he has a good thing going on in the States and wants to stay over there hopefully getting another world title shot. The other 3 would probably do it though!
Im pretty sure the winner would be well ranked and would be up there as next in line for a title shot. Maybe a financial bonus for the winner. Fighters nowadays are happy fighting nobodies in order to improve their ranking and get a shot at a title without beating anyone of note. Frustrating.
I could excuse Macklin as he has fought better opposition and looked well doing so. He's also been around the block longer and is a bit ahead of the rest. You could bring someone over from further afield to fill up the 4th position. Maybe somebody like Brian Vera would go for it. Tough, durable, a crowd favourite could possibly pull off the upset over one or two of the others.
Not a bad idea, and not even sure if the winner would need a guaranteed crack at anything else, the money for the 3 fights and bragging rights would be enough for me. Anyway, Macklin may think that but I dont! and I'm sure many others dont. Its not like he has achieved anything more or fought better opposition, infact Murray I think did better against Sturm and Barker did better against Martinez.. He may well be on to a good thing but I doubt he will achieve anything more than the others. Just my 2 bobs worth though!
Barker has only boxed about 5 rounds in the last 18 months, I'm not really fussed who yhe fights at the minute as long as he stays active.
I cant agree with Macklin being further ahead, if anything he is behind Barker and Murray who have both fought the same level of fighter with 3/4 less fights.