Barker: I'm ready to prove I'm World class

[The_budweiser]

Darren Barker returns to action on September 8 live on Sky Sports and says he will prove he belongs at World level when he faces Simone Rotolo.

 

The Londoner co-headlines Sky's season opener at the Alexandra Palace in north London in his first fight since pushing Sergio Martinez all the way in his World middleweight title challenge in Atlantic City on October 1.

 

Barker won rave reviews for his brave performance against the pound-for-pound star and was well in the fight before being stopped in the 11th, and the 30 year old said that he proved to himself that night that he could compete at the highest level.

 

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[brooklynbrawler]

Barker simply isn't world class and a win over Rotolo won't make him so either.

I do like the guy and I think he's primed for some huge domestic matches, which he is more than capable of winning.

When it comes to stepping up though, he'll never beat Martinez, Golovkin, Pavlik etc.

I give him a chance against Sturm and Geale, but only because Sturm has been feasting on no-marks for years and his ability has fallen as a result, and Geale is the most beatable middleweight champion out there.

OK, I guess if Barker is probably up there with those two, you can call him "world class" but I tend to reserve the phrase for the creme de la creme of the division, which Barker, sadly, isn't.

[iamasadlittleboy]

I think he's in the frustrating place between European level and World level. He's unfortunate that the Middleweight division is probably one of the 3 or 4 toughest divisions and with the likes of Martinez, Chavez, Golovkin, Pirog, Geale (who always seems to be hugely under-rated), Sturm, Quillin, Barker, N'Dam N'Jikam there is a LOT of talent there.

[brooklynbrawler]

I think he's in the frustrating place between European level and World level. He's unfortunate that the Middleweight division is probably one of the 3 or 4 toughest divisions and with the likes of Martinez, Chavez, Golovkin, Pirog, Geale (who always seems to be hugely under-rated), Sturm, Quillin, Barker, N'Dam N'Jikam there is a LOT of talent there.

 

Agree with everything apart from Geale being underrated.

If he had fought one of the better guys in the division by now (like those you mentioned), since winning the title, he would have lost it.

He's sat on it at home in Australia, to make a few quid first (which is fair enough) and is now going head to head with someone at a similar juncture, in Sturm - hanging onto a world title for dear life, while avoiding the best the division has to offer.

 

 

There are a lot of high class fighters at 160 lbs though, that much can't be disputed.

Barker falls just short of most of these guys imo, while still comfortably able to beat most domestic and European rivals...

He is between a rock and a hard place like you say...

[irondave85]

I think there's a difference between world-class and elite level. You could argue Barker deserves to be credited as world-class, but he clearly falls way short of elite status.

[WelshDevilRob]

Barker isn't there and in this day, of 4 belts, thats not an achievement.

 

Alot, of fighters believe they are better than they actually are.

 

He's Euro Level and fringe World.

[davemurphy]

I'm unsure how I'd classify Barker, it's hard to look at his effort against Martinez and say that pushing the Champ doesn't qualify as "World Class" but then there's nothing else on the resume that stands out. We'll see how he does if he's serious about stepping things up.

[leerhodes]

Barker isn't there and in this day, of 4 belts, thats not an achievement.

 

Alot, of fighters believe they are better than they actually are.

 

He's Euro Level and fringe World.

 

Totally agree with Rob.

To me someone who is world class wins a world title and can defend the title on numerous occasions.Barker isnt that to me just a good european.

[davemurphy]

Barker isn't there and in this day, of 4 belts, thats not an achievement.

 

Alot, of fighters believe they are better than they actually are.

 

He's Euro Level and fringe World.

 

Totally agree with Rob.

To me someone who is world class wins a world title and can defend the title on numerous occasions.Barker isnt that to me just a good european.

 

Lee-

I think you and I are probably disagreeing here because we disagree on the definition of "World Class". For me, that simply means someone who can be competitive on that level, it sounds like your holding it to a higher standard, what I would refer to as an elite fighter. In that sense, we're probably pretty close to agreement on Barker, and just have a different name for where he fits in.