Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez vs. Darren Barker Saturday October 1st

[CFH]

Also while martinez didn't look his usual spectacular self, I think he looked far from bad. Its tough to look good against a fighter who's so focused on defense and I think martinez looked almost his usual self the last three rounds or so and after all he was able to get barker out of there. I hope emanuel doesn't put lee in there with martinez yet but seems like he wouldn't mind the fight

Barker was a hard nut to crack the way he was covering up, coming forward, and smothering Sergio's punches. All in all, I thought this was a good win for Martinez and it wasn't easy like a lot of us thought it would be.

I don't know WTF Manny is thinking, I believe Lee would get destroyed by Martinez, Andy better fight one of the other trinket holders if he wants to win a title or wait 'til Sergio turns 40.

I think Martinez stops Lee and his leaky defense 10 times out of 10. BUT, I would assume Manny feels that a good technical fighter with a great jab who is a natural middleweight might be able to out-box Martinez. I think he's wrong in this case, but I could see the logic behind that kind of thinking.

[GAME]

Dive.

I thought it looked abit iffy too. The replay shows it didnt land too cleanly but he had taken alot of shots on that spot all night and was waiting for a shot to go down on. He had given up a couple rounds earlier trying to win.

Barker did suceed in making Sergio look poor for afew rounds but thats because his hands were so tight and he was boxing very cautiously. As soon as the guard started coming down Martinez took advantage. His hands at his waist standing in punching range still couldnt tempt Barker to let his hands go.

Duno what the commentary were thinking saying there was 1 point in the fight going into the 11th.

[Althugz]

Anyone got a link to the highlights or the full fight?

I'm hearing so many different versions of what happened in this fight, I think the truth probably lies somewhere down the middle.

Can anyone upload to "you know where"?

Cheers

[Rantcatrat]

Also while martinez didn't look his usual spectacular self, I think he looked far from bad. Its tough to look good against a fighter who's so focused on defense and I think martinez looked almost his usual self the last three rounds or so and after all he was able to get barker out of there. I hope emanuel doesn't put lee in there with martinez yet but seems like he wouldn't mind the fight

Barker was a hard nut to crack the way he was covering up, coming forward, and smothering Sergio's punches. All in all, I thought this was a good win for Martinez and it wasn't easy like a lot of us thought it would be.

I don't know WTF Manny is thinking, I believe Lee would get destroyed by Martinez, Andy better fight one of the other trinket holders if he wants to win a title or wait 'til Sergio turns 40.

I think Martinez stops Lee and his leaky defense 10 times out of 10. BUT, I would assume Manny feels that a good technical fighter with a great jab who is a natural middleweight might be able to out-box Martinez. I think he's wrong in this case, but I could see the logic behind that kind of thinking.

Exactly. I agree with you completely. Thanks for your email yesterday too!!

[Matias64]

What Sergio Martinez was missing in that Barker-fight was what e.g Lucian Bute really has : horrific uppercut body punches when Barker was keeping his hands high to cover his head. The arsenal of Martinez punches is indeed limited.

What Darren Barker really needs is something more than european style "technic" boxing and steady defense. His jabs and hooks were too slow. But worst thing for him is he can't take hard punches at all. That's perhaps the reason for his style of defending. He ain't a killer.

[CFH]

Also while martinez didn't look his usual spectacular self, I think he looked far from bad. Its tough to look good against a fighter who's so focused on defense and I think martinez looked almost his usual self the last three rounds or so and after all he was able to get barker out of there. I hope emanuel doesn't put lee in there with martinez yet but seems like he wouldn't mind the fight

Barker was a hard nut to crack the way he was covering up, coming forward, and smothering Sergio's punches. All in all, I thought this was a good win for Martinez and it wasn't easy like a lot of us thought it would be.

I don't know WTF Manny is thinking, I believe Lee would get destroyed by Martinez, Andy better fight one of the other trinket holders if he wants to win a title or wait 'til Sergio turns 40.

I think Martinez stops Lee and his leaky defense 10 times out of 10. BUT, I would assume Manny feels that a good technical fighter with a great jab who is a natural middleweight might be able to out-box Martinez. I think he's wrong in this case, but I could see the logic behind that kind of thinking.

Exactly. I agree with you completely. Thanks for your email yesterday too!!

No problem. Bookmark that site, it's great for finding links to all kinds of sporting events.

[Beanz]

What Sergio Martinez was missing in that Barker-fight was what e.g Lucian Bute really has : horrific uppercut body punches when Barker was keeping his hands high to cover his head. The arsenal of Martinez punches is indeed limited.

What Darren Barker really needs is something more than european style "technic" boxing and steady defense. His jabs and hooks were too slow. But worst thing for him is he can't take hard punches at all. That's perhaps the reason for his style of defending. He ain't a killer.

No Barker aint a killer but his range of punches started to damage Martinez and the idea that holding your guard high is a european technic is somewhat bizarre. As for Lucian Bute having horrific uppercut body punches i think his own limitations will be exposed if he ever meets a truely world class super middleweight. Froch would finish him and even the ageing Glen Johnson may soon expose the flimsy house of cards on which his reputation is built.

[Rantcatrat]

What Sergio Martinez was missing in that Barker-fight was what e.g Lucian Bute really has : horrific uppercut body punches when Barker was keeping his hands high to cover his head. The arsenal of Martinez punches is indeed limited.

What Darren Barker really needs is something more than european style "technic" boxing and steady defense. His jabs and hooks were too slow. But worst thing for him is he can't take hard punches at all. That's perhaps the reason for his style of defending. He ain't a killer.

No Barker aint a killer but his range of punches started to damage Martinez and the idea that holding your guard high is a european technic is somewhat bizarre. As for Lucian Bute having horrific uppercut body punches i think his own limitations will be exposed if he ever meets a truely world class super middleweight. Froch would finish him and even the ageing Glen Johnson may soon expose the flimsy house of cards on which his reputation is built.

I agree that Johnson will be a test and looking forward to seeing how Bute reacts.

[superheavyrhun]

Figured I'd unstick this one as it's been a week now, Darren Barker has definitely got his name recognised a little bit more with a good performance in this bout, and I'm sure he'll go back to his European title a few times, and then have another crack at one of the alphabet belts.