Can barker pull off an upset?

[Kev]

I'm expecting him to do rather well. Likely being in America everything will be against him. The referee won't give him a fair shake, he will stopped at the slightest provocation and if it goes to the judges he will need to be dominating like Calzaghe against Lacy to earn a majority decision.

So, allowing for the above it would take a knockout or some freak event for him to win, thus I don't expect him to.

That said, I do expect him to perform pretty well. I think he's awkard and durable enough to cause Martinez problems, and I think he will land and maybe stun Martinez a few times.

I think it will be a game performance with him losing a decision in a fight where his stock rises significantly. If he does get stopped I believe it will be one of those debatable stoppages, a cut that doesn't look too bad, him taking a good shot but wanting to fight on and the referee stopping it early kind of thing.

It should be aninteresting fight imo. Martinez is fairly small for a middle, he's in his mid thirties, and is rather easy to hit. He's looked great in his last two fights, but not so much so in the fights prior to that.

He is beatable, I don't put him at the same level as a Pacquiao, Mayweather or a younger Hopkins, Calzaghe etc. He's the best middle in a weak division, but he's not unbeatable, although he is, of course, very good.

[FinitoElDinamita]

I'm expecting him to do rather well. Likely being in America everything will be against him. The referee won't give him a fair shake, he will stopped at the slightest provocation and if it goes to the judges he will need to be dominating like Calzaghe against Lacy to earn a majority decision.

So, allowing for the above it would take a knockout or some freak event for him to win, thus I don't expect him to.

That said, I do expect him to perform pretty well. I think he's awkard and durable enough to cause Martinez problems, and I think he will land and maybe stun Martinez a few times.

I think it will be a game performance with him losing a decision in a fight where his stock rises significantly. If he does get stopped I believe it will be one of those debatable stoppages, a cut that doesn't look too bad, him taking a good shot but wanting to fight on and the referee stopping it early kind of thing.

It should be aninteresting fight imo. Martinez is fairly small for a middle, he's in his mid thirties, and is rather easy to hit. He's looked great in his last two fights, but not so much so in the fights prior to that.

He is beatable, I don't put him at the same level as a Pacquiao, Mayweather or a younger Hopkins, Calzaghe etc. He's the best middle in a weak division, but he's not unbeatable, although he is, of course, very good.

I agree..

[skel1983]

Barker is getting knocked out, but hey what do I know Eric's your man 5th round stoppage in Barkers favour according to him.

[Mar]

I would give bob barker as much of a chance. I see martinez having his hands above his waist totouch gloves in the begining, but that's about it. I give barker credit for stepping in there tho , whole shit load of so called tough guys in the division that won't.

[Rantcatrat]

I agree with Bilbo in that I believe barker is being underrated a bunch. He's got a different style than Pavlik/Dzinziruk/Williams. He'll move around the ring and use his boxing skills. He has a little slickness to his game. Martinez usually takes some rounds off in the middle of the fight and if Barker can take advantage of that to win a round or two, he may actually make the fight quite interesting. What I expect to happen is what Bilbo expects - Barker does well for himself and is able to use this to get him another big fight against one of the European middleweight champions. At the same time, I'll be rather impressed if Sergio utterly dominates him.

Once we see how the fight goes, and assuming Sergio wins, I'd like to have an intelligent discussion of where Sergio realistically goes next. I'm convinced Cotto, Margarito, Chavez Jr., Mayweather, and Pacquiao are not going to face him. I also don't believe Bute will offer enough money to make the risk to go up to 166 worth it. He's getting paid over $1M for the Barker fight. It would have to be double that in my opinion to make the jump worth it. At this point, considering risk/reward, I'm leaning toward Pirog/Sturm/Macklin/Geale/Rubio/Maybe Proksa.

I disagree that the middleweight division is weak. That is meant for Sergio supporters and those that put him down. All the guys I mentioned above are legitimate middleweights. Pirog/Proksa have the ability to be very good although we'll see if they do.

[skel1983]

I agree with Bilbo in that I believe barker is being underrated a bunch. He's got a different style than Pavlik/Dzinziruk/Williams. He'll move around the ring and use his boxing skills. He has a little slickness to his game. Martinez usually takes some rounds off in the middle of the fight and if Barker can take advantage of that to win a round or two, he may actually make the fight quite interesting. What I expect to happen is what Bilbo expects - Barker does well for himself and is able to use this to get him another big fight against one of the European middleweight champions. At the same time, I'll be rather impressed if Sergio utterly dominates him.

Once we see how the fight goes, and assuming Sergio wins, I'd like to have an intelligent discussion of where Sergio realistically goes next. I'm convinced Cotto, Margarito, Chavez Jr., Mayweather, and Pacquiao are not going to face him. I also don't believe Bute will offer enough money to make the risk to go up to 166 worth it. He's getting paid over $1M for the Barker fight. It would have to be double that in my opinion to make the jump worth it. At this point, considering risk/reward, I'm leaning toward Pirog/Sturm/Macklin/Geale/Rubio/Maybe Proksa.

I disagree that the middleweight division is weak. That is meant for Sergio supporters and those that put him down. All the guys I mentioned above are legitimate middleweights. Pirog/Proksa have the ability to be very good although we'll see if they do.

The more closer it gets to the fight and the more I have looked into Barkers career, the more I think he is getting taken out.

Lets look a bit closer at Barker, he seems to have decent skills and fights very cleverly, but he has been put down hard in his career and has looked in trouble other than the one big knockdown he has had in his career, i am not sold on his chin. Secondly he has held the British,Commanwealth and European Titles as a pro but each of them titles he has always fought for when they were vacant, his resume is very weak and his hardest test to date when he first fought for the Euro title he was coming apart in the championship rounds and just about hung on for a close win.

I think Sergio will stop him and be winning very comfortably prior to stopping him. Barker has decent skills but to go in against someone like Martinez when you havent even tested the water at world level is a big ask.

[boxingbantz]

I'll be cheering him on but I'll be very surprised if he makes it past the fourth round.

I think he is getting knocked out, I'd bet everything I own on that.

People on here and twitter thinking he can win are deluded.

Saying it as I see it.