ATLANTIC CITY, NJ –“All I could think about was my brother [decesaed] Gary and my daughter.” These were the post-fight words of newly crowned IBF middleweight champion Darren Barker, recalling last night’s amazing sixth round against Daniel Geale that saw him dropped and badly hurt by a body shot. Barker barely beat the count and was summarily battered for a good minute and on the verge of being stopped. However, Barker proved his warrior heart and mental toughness in fighting off Geale in the round’s waning seconds, and outworking the Aussie champion over the fight’s second half to take a narrow split decision win (113-114, 116-111 and 114-113).
ROUND OF THE YEAR CONTENDER: For the first five rounds, the bout was evenly contested with the more athletic Geale being able to get off his punches first and in more varied fashion, while Barker was the stronger fighter in-close and tended to make his foe retreat or clinch in exchanges. Geale hit gold with a wicked body shot that took all the air, and at first glance also the will, out of Barker as he lolled on the canvas. He barely got upright and was summarily bounced around the ring like a pinball courtesy of Geale’s power shots and intentions to finish the fight.
There was a moment where Barker looked defenseless on the ropes and referee Eddie Cotton yelled “Show me something!” as Barker appeared ready to turn away in submission from the assault. Instead, he began winging haymakers in Geale’s direction — most didn’t land, but those that did knocked Geale back on his heels and drove the crowd into a frenzy. Barker never ran away to buy time and in the final minute was once again coming forward into Geale’s chest.
It was an amazing round and perhaps the quintessential example this year of why boxing, despite its taxing toll on the body, is a “mind over matter” sport. Everything in Barker’s body told him to quit, but the memory of his heartbreaking loss to Sergio Martinez, his deceased brother Gary (a former Olympic boxing champion who died tragically in a 2006 car accident), and daughter overcame the pain. Kudos also should be given to Cotton, who wouldn’t have gotten much criticism if he had stopped it before Barker came roaring back. Letting Barker work through a near-minute of punishment without retaliation is rarely seen from refs.
CLOSE FIGHT: A point or two swing for either man was conceivable, but this is boxing so we had at least one score that was completely left-field (judge Barbara Perez had it 116-111 for Barker).I thought Geale took the 12th and with the knockdown had done enough to edge it, but Barker’s aggression and overall harder shots appeared to hold enough sway ringside among the three observers that mattered most.
FOOD FOR GGG?: Barker didn’t talk much about future opponents, but it makes logical sense that his first defense should be a unification matchup against WBA-titleholder Gennady Golovkin. Yes, Golovkin likely runs Barker over, but it’s another HBO payday got Barker in early 2014, since GGG has business first on November 2 against Curtis Stevens.
MARTINEZ TKO6 ROMERO: There was a major upset on the undercard with Kiko Martinez lifting the IBF super bantamweight title from Jhonatan Romero. It was Romero’s first loss and he took a massive beating from a fighter who came out with the mindset that he would never take a step backward. The smaller Martinez used his compact frame and reach to make himself a crouching, difficult target. When he got inside, he smashed home hooks to the body and when Romero sought to exchange, the challenger came upstairs with head-snapping left hooks that had Romero swollen and bleeding after a few rounds. It would be a left hook on the ropes that Romero couldn’t recover from in round six.
As you can see from the photos, Martinez fought like a rabid pitbull. He was very humble in victory but did state he wants a shot at Nonito Donaire next. With Nonito likely done with the 122 pound division, I hope HBO looks into getting Martinez paired up against unified WBO and WBA champ Guillermo Rigondeaux
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 
Im proper pleased for Barker, what a story, Ive been routing for him for years, his early career was so promising but with constant injury set backs and the death of his brother I thought a World Title might not happen for him, especially the Martinez fight, what a triumph for him!!! I was screaming like mad for him to get up, dig deep and survive the round haha I might be bias, but I though he won by a round or two…
Hes now looking like facing Felix Sturm as its his mandatory defense I believe, and after that possibly a rematch with Geale if theres a clause (hope not) and even more people talking about a domestic fight with Murray who could of got the nod over Martinez in their fight… Personally after hes got passed Sturm who I think is finished, I wanna see him fight Peter Quillin, I think its a winnable fight and a chance to pick up another belt…
Also glad Michael Buffer got his name right this time!!! haha