Sergio Martinez KO’s Darren Barker With Late Rally [VIDEO]

ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY — Darren Barker (23-1, 14 KOs) came to fight, but Sergio Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KOs) proved too skillful in rallying late to deliver a 11th round knockout in a competitive bout last night at Boardwalk Hall.

The opening rounds were tactical affairs that surprisingly favored the slower Barker in exchanges. Martinez, who would back pedal and seek to catch Barker with counter left crosses, was short many times with his money punch despite a high punch output. Barker was able to land several solid straight rights, and kept Martinez’s timing off with his jab. In close, Barker did better with shorter shots, and had drawn a bloody nose on Martinez by the fourth round.

Martinez adjusted in the middle rounds by making the contest into an outside, technical boxing match. Although Martinez was much more active in rounds 5-7, Barker carried a high guard and caught most of Martinez’s shots on his gloves. Nonetheless, the strategy kept Barker from himself having any sustained offense, and the middleweight champion added in occasional body shots for additional points.

Barker came back strong in the eighth by going after Martinez behind 1-2s and steady but not reckless pressure. This forced several exchanges in which Barker landed solid right crosses and hooks as Martinez was retreating to the ropes.

With Barker now more active, Sergio Martinez made a final adjustment of standing his ground more to counter. When Barker landed a jab-right cross, Martinez immediately fired back with his own. In the round’s final minute, it would be Martinez who made the bigger statement by catching Barker with several left crosses.

The 10th and 11th were all Martinez. The 10th saw Martinez stun Barker with a right hook and press a potential knockdown with a 30 second flurry. Although Barker covered up well and survived, Martinez smelled blood and would not let the challenger recover from the damage. The champion began the 11th with a right hook downstairs, and threw combinations punctuated by looping right hooks around Barker’s guard. The last one caught Barker behind the ear and dropped him flat of his back. Writhing in pain and holding his face, Darren Barker could only make it to his knees before being counted out.

In the post-fight interview, Martinez reiterated his desire to hopefully land a bout with either Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao. He also turned down an offer made earlier in the night by WBC light-heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins to meet at a catchweight of 170 pounds.

On the undercard, middleweight contender Andy Lee (27-1, 19 KOs) gained revenge over a 2008 TKO loss to Brian Vera (19-6, 12 KOs) with a dominant unanimous decision. Outside of isolated moments where Vera connected with wild power shots, Lee throughly outboxed Vera and had his foe hurt late several times. Final scorecards read 98-91 and 99-90 twice.