Darren Barker- Overrated and near the end?

For vthe record I like Barker as a bloke, and I also think he's a very good pro. However people seem to be under this illusion that he is world class and could win a title in a year, he won the british title from a man who had two days notice and has struggled in both euro fights before bravely falling to the best in the diversion. I mean to me he's currently on par with James degale, and further more looks like injuries are soon to finish his career whereas degale has more years in the tank to progress. Yet Barker is rated highly but at 31 won't get better, am i missing something?

Your articles are really cheery aren't they. Not overrated. Just rated as he is. And injuries have stopped us from learning more

Im not sure he is particularly overrated. Ive never felt people rated him all that highly in the context of world level. His injury situation is unfortunate but I wouldnt say he is close to retirement unless the injuries are serious enough to enforce it. He lucky enough in the sense that he is currently in a division where I think there are alot of good fights out there for him, especially with domestic rivals and he could certainly push himself into the world title picture again with a couple of decent wins.

He reckons he could beat Proksa according to his feedback during the Kerry Hope rematch, there's one I'd like to see.

he did better against martinez than chavez jr, he just lacks power and isnt been moved in the right direction, be it from injuries or just lack of appeal

Yea I think overrated is te wrong word as no one has ever said he will be #1 at middleweight. However, I have to admit that I do think that he may be near the end

I always thought that his lack of power was going to make it hard to be a champion, but has a good defence and boxing brain so has done pretty well for himself. Always wanted him to fight Macklin, as I feel that those 2 are the best in Britain as I don't relate Murray highly. Macklin would beat him but it would be competitive.

He tried and competed very well vs Martinez and did do better than Chavez. However, his injuries hae ruined his career and I can't see him staying around for too long. He has had to have year long layoffs a couple times and was understandably rusty.

His last fight was Martinez last October and could be out untill next year, his longest layoff to date. Te injuries also get in the way of training so he might need a long camp to get into shape. He can't go back down to domestic level as he is past that so he could be beaten if he's not 100% as is a too far euro level fighter