On a night when the world was watching, two men–Daniel “Real Deal” Geale and “Dazzling” Darren Barker–kept their word and put on a spectacular show.
Geale and Barker provided 12 grueling rounds of superb boxing, ducking, weaving, which had fans jumping out of their seats. You could not ask for anything better.
Both men are true champions, as they both left it all in the ring and ended a night of incredible boxing in Atlantic City.
One of the most compelling points in the fight was when Barker took a shot in the solar plexus in the sixth round that dropped him. Withering in pain, he found a way to get up at the count of nine to the amazement of everyone in the audience.
Following the knockdown, Barker dominated rounds seven through 11 with his better work rate and power. In the 12th, Geale hurt Barker with a hard right hand to the head, but he was unable to finish the tough Englishman off.
After his big win, an emotional Barker had this to say:
I started loading up and got careless and I started getting hit too much. The occasion kind of got to me. If I would had stuck to my game plan and boxed more, I would have won easier. During the knockdown it all went through my head, my family and my daughter. I knew I was up against it going in. He was a tough man.
Barker began to tear and dedicated this fight to his brother Gary who passed away in 2006 from a car accident and felt redemption for winning the fight in the city where he lost his only professional fight to Sergio Martinez.
Barker feels that he doesn’t have the right to call out Martinez, but will fight the mandatory challenger, Felix Sturm.
A disappointed Geale felt he did enough to win the, stating he wants a rematch with Barker.
I felt I won the fight. I was never hurt. It wasn’t my best performance and I’m very disappointed I lost the belt. I definitely want a rematch. I don’t feel he did enough to take the belt.
I had the fight 114-113 for Barker, but I didn’t see how judge Perez had it 116-112 for Barker.
Where should each man go from here? Who do you think won the fight? Leave a comment below or send a tweet by using @RBRBoxing.
Brendan Montenegro is a contributing writer for Round By Round Boxing. Follow him@BJMonty28 on Instagram.
