Darren Barker
Unbeaten Middleweight "Dazzling" Darren Barker believes he will be fighting for a world title in 2011 after signing a promotional deal with Matchroom Sport.
Barker rose to fame at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, where he claimed Gold for England in the light-welterweight division, the highlight of an amateur career that saw him win 55 of his 68 bouts.
Barker turned professional in September 2004 with a points victory over Howard Clarke and his second fight of the year saw him stop David White at the Wembley Conference Centre in December. Barker maintained his unbeaten start to his career in 2005, winning all five of his fights and topped that in 2006, with seven more victories including a points win over Hussain Osman at Alexandra Palace to claim the Southern Area middleweight title.
He took a break from boxing after his boxer brother Gary died in a car accident, but returned to the ring in October 2007 with a third round stoppage of Greg Barton at York Hall. One month later, Barker fought for his first major title in November, taking on unbeaten Ben Crampton for the Commonwealth title, the Australian who had won his previous 20 fights. Barker claimed the belt at York Hall with unanimous decision and defended the title for the first time against Steven Bendall in the same venue with a seventh round stoppage in February 2008.
In December 2008 Barker took six rounds to defended his title for the second time against Jason McKay in Brentwood and then defeated Darren McDermott in May 2009 in a British title eliminator with a seventh round stoppage in Watford.
Danny Butler stood in the way of Barker and the British title in a fight that doubled as his fourth defence of his Commonwealth title. The Brentwood Centre in Essex was the venue as Barker added the British belt to his Commonwealth belt with a seventh round stoppage, extending his professional record to 21-0.
His next fight in April 2010 saw Barker fight for another title – taking on Frenchman Affif Belghecham for the vacant European title at Alexandra Palace, London. The reigning French and EU champion provided the toughest test of Barker's career to date, but the Londoner shone through in front of his home support, earning a unanimous decision to claim his third title.
The next man in Barker's sights was Matthew Macklin, the Birmingham-born Irishman who had vacated the European title for a shot at the World belt which never materialised. The pair were ready to do battle in September for the British and European belts after Barker vacated the Commonwealth crown but injury robbed Barker of the chance to appear in the Birmingham show and Macklin went on to beat Barker's replacement to regain the European crown.
Barker will return to the ring in April 2011 after a year out of action to fight Italian Domenico Spada for the vacant European belt as he gets his quest for a world title shot back on track.
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