After a hard-fought 12 round battle with the previously undefeated Daniel Geale, Englishman Darren Barker upset Geale en route to winning the IBF middleweight title via a questionable split decision.
In a bout that saw Barker dominate most of the bout, Geale (29-1, 15 KOs) had trouble mounting much offense besides a devastating shot to Barker’s (25-1, 16 KOs) liver that looked like it could have ended the bout.
Instead of folding after a standing eight-count, Barker mounted a comeback displaying the will he had to win the biggest fight of his career.
Geale was hoping to make a name for himself with the American fight fans, headlining the HBO card, but instead he came out flat and missed out on a huge opportunity in the process.
Geale will have to refocus and mount a comeback fight to get his name back into the 160-pound mix again.
Barker on the other hand now has a major title in his corner and should be a prime opponent for any of the top middleweights, including Sergio Martinez, who Barker’s only loss came to via Round 11 TKO in 2011.
With a split decision victory that saw one judge score it 114-113 Geale, 114-113 Barker and 116-11 Barker, one has to wonder what the two judges that didn’t score it heavily in Barkers favor were watching.
If Barker can give the kind of gutsy performance he put forward Saturday against Geale, he should have no problem winning fans over worldwide and landing big fights in the process.
