Darren Barker Returns to England a Broken Hearted Man

Euro middleweight titleholder Darren Barker returned to England on Monday after his 11th round KO loss to world champion Sergio Martinez in Atlantic City. “I’m still devastated by the defeat as I felt great in camp, in the changing room and in the ring and even though I was written off from day one – we all believed we could do it. After eight rounds I felt so in control and felt I had the beating of him. I knew it was tight but knew I would need to win the last few rounds to be in the mix so tried to do so and came unstuck. I could have survived and lost on points but that’s not what I’m about and that’s not what boxing is about. I’m looking forward to the rest and hopefully we can manufacture another shot in the New Year.”
Barker’s promoter Eddie Hearn says work will begin right away on Barker’s next step and he hopes to capitalise on the Londoner’s big night in Atlantic City to get him another bite at a major title.

“It was just an incredible performance,” said Hearn. “Nobody gave Darren a shot. I would say it was at times disrespectful but when you look at the task, he was putting it on the line against one of boxing’s all time greats and matched him on so many different levels. Darren came to win and that’s what eventually lead to the stoppage. He tried to WIN, not survive and we should all embrace that. Darren would have beaten any middleweight in the world but Martinez….the real work starts now. He has made a huge name for himself and I will get him another shot in 2012 but for now we should get behind him for putting it all on the line.”