Who performed best in defeat to Sergio Martinez: Darren Barker or Matthew Macklin?

Both were stopped in eleven rounds after having mixed success against the middleweight champ, with fan and pundit scorecards roaming all over the place from wide for Martinez to razor thin margins to even having either of the UK's challengers ahead at the times of the respective stoppages.

Both used pressure on the free-wheeling southpaw with the fast-and-loose, hands-down style - but different forms of pressure. Barker went in with his almost Ghanaian upright high guard - all tight and blockish and rectangular - from which he emitted that hard ramrod left jab while zeroing in on Martinez. Macklin preferred a more mobile approach, juking and jiving in something of a right-handed mirror of Martinez's stance and movements while looking to parachute in with mostly lances to the body.

Both caught Martinez with a few very solid punches - for each mostly right hands - but never had him badly shaken (although Macklin scored a disputed knockdown in the 7th). Both were themselves hurt more and more often in the later stages, until Barker was caught with a right hook behind the ear that vanquished his equilibrium and put him down for the count - and Macklin was toppled by straight left hands to the face twice in rapid succession late in the 11th, prompting Buddy McGirt to make the call after the bell.


So which British contender put up more of a challenge? :think

 

IMHO, Barker gave Maravilla the tougher fight - and would beat Macklin h2h as well, if they ever settle their long-standing score.



At the time of the stoppages, my scorecards read:

Martinez-Barker, entering the 11th...
95-95


Martinez-Macklin, entering the 11th...
97-92 Martinez (eight rounds to two, minus the knockdown point)

Martinez-Macklin after 11 rounds completed...
107-99 Martinez (10-7 round with the two knockdowns)

 

:good :deal



Styles of course make fights (class tells, but when you have guys of a similar level it's all about styles...) - do you think Macklin would beat Barker? :think

 

How incredible is it that the 37 year old had the stamina to easily outlast the 29 year old? (yeah, yeah - he cut his teeth on endurance sports like bicycling and soccer before transitioning to boxing...still. He's thirty-SEVEN...)

Yeah, it's subjective - and I can see why people gave shares to Macklin for his aggression, work rate and body shots...just to me they never really provided enough of a counterbalance to all the flush lefts that Martinez was zapping him with while pot shotting on a roundly basis.

 

This is interesting:

Boxed Ears told me that he scored the 7th only 10-9 to Macklin, feeling that Martinez was dominant enough throughout the round to stave off the two-point swing of a 10-8.

:think

I did think Martinez was on his way to clearly winning the round at the time of the "knockdown", but I'm not sure he was quite dominating Macklin in such a way as to prevent 10-8 scoring. Usually that's reserved for severe bell to bell drubbings. (the kind where more faint-of-heart officials might be on the verge of jumping in)

Had I gone with BE's convention there, my card would have been even wider. 98-92 entering the 11th, and 108-99 afterward.