Hennessy Boxing: Froch Tips Barker To Win European Title This Friday

Unbeaten British and Commonwealth middleweight champion 'Dazzling' Darren Barker has skipped the Easter eggs ahead of his European title showdown this Friday at the Alexandra Palace in London, which will be shown live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 10pm

“I love chocolate like everyone else, but that European title victory will be sweet enough for me this month and I definitely won’t mind it going straight on my hips”, joked Barker, with a record of 21-0 (14). The opportunities are arriving and I intend to grab them with both fists".

His opponent is the tough French Middleweight Champion Affif Belghecham, who recently gave the top Irish middleweight prospect Andy Lee a few nightmares in their 10 round encounter in which Lee eventually won on points.

“I think I can knock this guy out I really do”, said Barker “My power is really starting to sting opponents as McDermott and Butler would both testify”.

Barker dropped the durable Darren McDermott in just 4 rounds whilst the ever-game Danny Butler was given the first stoppage of his career. Stable mate and reigning unbeaten WBC Super Middleweight champion Carl Froch believes that Barker has the right stuff to give anyone problems at 160lbs.

“I’ve known Darren Barker a long time and he is a very good boxer. The middleweight division is very deep at world level but I believe Barker can put his stamp on the weight class”, said Froch, who is currently in camp preparing for Mikkel Kessler on April 24th.

“Anyone can see Darren has got very good technical skills and take it from me, he can also get tough when he needs to. He’s got a very good boxing brain and he has that important mindset that you need when fighting on the big stage. I wouldn’t pick anyone against him, he is that good”, concluded Froch.

Tickets for the show at Alexandra Palace are on sale from the Seetickets box office on 0871 230 7148 or via www.seetickets.com, tickets are priced at £30 for unreserved seating and £60 for ringside.