Darren Barker
Darren Barker 
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|---|---|
| Data | |
| Birth Name | Darren Barker |
| Fight name | Dazzling |
| Weight class | medium weight |
| nationality |
 British
|
| birthday | May 19, 1982 |
| place of birth | London |
| style | Left delivery |
| size | 1.84 m |
| Combat Statistics | |
| Struggles | 28 |
| Victories | 26th |
| Knockout victories | 16 |
| Defeats | 2 |
Darren Barker (born May 19, 1982 in London ) is a former British professional boxer and former IBF middleweight world champion.
Amateur career
As an amateur he won 55 of 68 fights and is the winner of international tournaments, including the 52nd Bocskai tournament in 2002 in Debrecen, Hungary . In August 2002 he also won the gold medal in the light welterweight division at the 17th Commonwealth Games in Manchester . He prevailed against the later successful professionals Paul McCloskey from Ireland, Sheldon Rudolph from Jamaica, Emmanuel Lartey from Ghana, Davidson Emenogu from Nigeria and Mohammed Kayongo from Uganda. In an international match against the USA in November of the same year, he narrowly lost to Timothy Bradley with 13:16.
In June 2003 he took part in the 1st EU Championships in Strasbourg , France , where he was defeated on points in the quarter-finals against the reigning European champion Bülent Ulusoy from Turkey. In July he started in the welterweight division at the 12th World Championships in Bangkok , where he prevailed in the preliminary round against Kōji Satō from Japan and in the round of 16 against Kwanele Zulu from South Africa. In the quarterfinal fight that followed, he lost against Andre Berto from the USA just 22:24.
In February 2004 he took part in the 35th European Championships in Pula , where he had to admit defeat in the middleweight round of 16 against Andy Lee from Ireland.
Professional career
He made his professional debut in September 2004 and remained undefeated for over seven years. In November 2007 he won the Commonwealth middleweight championship belt laid down by Howard Eastman , with a clear points win against the undefeated Australian Ben Crampton (20-0). In February 2008 he prevailed against Steven Bendall (28-3) after he had to be taken out of the fight in the seventh round due to injury. After a unanimous decision on points against Larry Sharpe (22-4), he defended his title early against Jason McKay (20-2) and Darren McDermott (16-1).
Then he should have boxed against Matthew Macklin for the British championship, but Macklin put down the title to prepare for the European championship. Instead, he should now compete against Wayne Elcock for the now vacant title, but this also withdrew shortly before the fight date. Ultimately, he fought against Danny Butler (18-2) for the title in November 2009 and defeated him by tKo in the seventh round.
In his next fight on April 9, 2010, he won unanimously on points against the French southpaw Affif Belghecham (19-4) and thus also won the European Middleweight Championship ( EBU ). After an injury-related break of one year, he secured the European Championship again on April 30, 2011 by winning points against Domenico Spada (32-3).
On October 1, 2011, he boxed in Atlantic City against world number one Sergio Martínez (47-2), to whom he was finally defeated by a knockout in the eleventh round after a good performance. In December 2012 he won the IBF Intercontinental Championship by technical knockout in the fourth round against ex-European champion Kerry Hope (18-4). In March 2013 he also won early against Simone Rotolo (35-3) from Italy after he gave up the fight in the fourth round.
On August 17, 2013, he got the chance to compete in the IBF Middleweight Championship on his second appearance in Atlantic City. He boxed against the strong Australian title holder Daniel Geale (29-1), who was ranked second in the world by Ring Magazine behind Sergio Martínez. Barker had to go down in the duel in the sixth round after a liver hook and also suffered a cut injury to his left eye, but won the fight in the end just on points.
On December 7, 2013 he played his first title defense and boxed against Felix Sturm (38-3) in Stuttgart . In the second round, Barker went down twice before his trainer threw in the towel and Darren Barker lost his world title to a technical knockout.
After losing to Felix Sturm, Barker announced his resignation.
Web links
Individual evidence
| predecessor | title | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel Geale | Middleweight Boxing Champion ( IBF ) August 17, 2013 - December 7, 2013 |
Felix Sturm |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Barker, Darren |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British boxer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 19, 1982 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |