Did Darren Barker follow Mundines blueprint?

They are cowards mate, i always had a good farkn giggle at those clowns claiming that Geale could beat GGG, it was evident that Geale was ducking GGG because if sooo confident of a win, he had enough time to defeat GGG and fight Mundine, win win situation, he gets to keep the belt and still gets paid from Mundine but these idiots couldnt see that Geale took the easy way out, they said GGG was over rated, a hype job yet still clutching the nutsack of Geale lol..

Sox isn't the same guy anymore, he talked it up that much that he now has nothing left to offer. That was his claim to fame, being a Geale nut hugger but it all back fired on him when Geale couldn't even beat a bloke who had a 14 month lay off and 2 fights since his return.

 

There is no denying that Geale went an awful long way given his weak cv.
You outline the facts very well.
He was a lucky champion without a doubt, everything fell into place for him.

Disagree slightly about the Sturm-Geale fight. It shouldn't be called a close fight that could have gone either way. It was a close but clear win for Sturm. Also Sturm was the defending champion. Also Sturm was boxing at home. Very strange that Geale got the nod.
Sturm was suffering the backlash from (and Geale was the inadvertent beneficiary of), the gift win Felix was given against Macklin, who really did defeat him clearly, and was robbed. Sentiment was very much against Sturm after that and officials were basically just looking for an excuse to go against him, and indeed this is what happened, not just against Geale, but Murray and Soliman too.

Also maybe a bit harsh to say Barker definitely quit against Martinez. Who can tell what pain he was in etc etc?

 

Sturm will take the title off Barker when they fight.........then rematch Geale.

 

You could be right about that Roscoe. :good

 

I think Barkers movement might bother Sturm, on top of that he evens it out with a decent jab - something Geale hasn't got, yet he still won on Sturm's home soil.

You lot are selling Barker short just because you don't like Geale.
Barker went deep with Sergio - and Barker looks to of improved a lot.
I think Barker has a lot of upside, he takes Sturm and does so easily.

 

i have to agree.

 

Don't get wrong here fellas I like Barker n his story is a great one about winning the world title for his deceased brother but styles make fights & I think Sturm;s style is all wrong for Barker...........we will see.......I'm also a big fan of Geale's & think that the loss will be the best thing for him.......that wasn't the best Geale who fought Barker & lets face it 1 sec later & he retains his world title via TKO 6 over Barker so lets not dismiss him so easily.

 

Above deck....what is it about barker that makes you think he .."takes Sturm easily"?
No one has ever beaten Sturm easily. Not even Macklin who beat him clearly, but not easily.
If Barker beats him "easily" I will be amazed.
Of course Barker is a good boxer and there is every chance he could nick it on points against Sturm. Sturm was never the most mobile and now at 34 he is decidedly wooden legged. But Barker is no great twinkle toes either..the mobility difference between them is not big. averaged out over their entire careers, Sturm is immeasurably superior to Barker but I will concede that age and timing is a concern here.
My pick stays with Sturm. His jab will be the deciding factor.

 

I could be very wrong about this, but based on my very dodgy translation, the Bild (German Newspaper) seems to be saying that Hearn has been too greedy with money demands for Sturm-Barker and the fight is going out to bids on October 1....???
As I say, I am working off a very poor translation so this could be nonsense.
Also Sturm himself seems to be saying that while he wants Barker, he is quite happy to go other routes if reasonable agreement cannot be reached.
Dunno, can anybody clarify this??

 

Barkers knows the importance of a good jab, the need to get off first and combined with his movement, I think he holds a lot of advantages.
He should be able to take away Sturms most powerful weapon anyway - his jab.

On top of this, I believe Barker has improved since Martinez - he was probably thrown into the deep end a bit early, he appears to of matured, whereas Sturm appears to of gone backwards, losses against Geale and Soliman and arguably Macklin, show that this isn't the same Sturm that was robbed against Oscar.

I think we have a quality fighter on the up in Barker, who will be able to take away Sturms advantages - Vs a former quality fighter on the way down, Sturm.

 

Above Deck...You could have a point about Barker. Not for a moment am I saying he is a no-hoper against Sturm. If Barker really has reinvented himself..and we really do have Barker Version 2.0 then he has the skills to trouble most of his peers - Sturm/Geale/Murray etc.

But Barker was not thrown in the deep end a bit early at all. By no means. He was in the late 20s before he fought anyone with a pulse.
His recent improvement is a physical improvement, brought about, strangely enough, by eliminating running from his training cos it was aggravating his multiple injuries, and re-lacing it with stretching/yoga type stuff.
We are only now at 30-plus seeing the real Darren Barker, injury free. But we have only one fight to go on really - the Geale fight. Lets not overrate him yet.


Barker does have a decent jab. But Sturm has a great jab. Barker is a bit stiff and straight up and Sturm will find him easy to hit with that jab.
I think a lot of Sturms recent poor form is due to him skimping and cutting corners in training. The businessman/celebrity side of things had taken over.

I dont think he is physicallly washed up. If he was how do you explain how sharp and deadly he looked in 2012 against Zbik and this year versus Radosevic. I think its because he prepared properly for those two fights.
I think he has been rudely awakened by being poorly treated in recent points decisions and knows what he has to do to win from now on.
Of course at 34 he has not got much time left, and he could age overnight. But I still feel that he has too much for Barker.