Gary Shaw Productions Press Release
ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY (August 17, 2013) – Saturday night on HBO Boxing After Dark, Gary Shaw Productions in association with Grange Old School Boxing, Matchroom Sport, Thompson Boxing and Sampson Boxing, presented an exhilarating night of boxing live from the Revel Hotel-Casino in Atlantic City.
In the 10-round main event, the UK’s Darren Barker (26-1, 16 KOs) defeated Australia’s Daniel Geale (29-1, 15 KOs) by means of a twelve round split decision to capture the IBF middleweight championship.
Both fighters had their moments throughout the fight. Barker seemed to be more accurate with his punches. Geale was in every round and dropped Barker in round six with a left to the body that almost had the British fighter down for good.
Barker showed tremendous resilience and fought hard to end the round. Going into the later rounds it was anyone’s fight. Barker was throwing more punches, but Geale was landing the harder blows. After the final bell rang the scorecards read 114-113 for Geale, as the other two judge had it 116-111 and 114-113 for Barker. Barker wins by spit decision.
“I started loading up and got careless and I started getting hit too much,” said Barker. “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 wife my family and my daughter. I knew I was up against it going in. He was a tough man.”
“I felt I won the fight, said Geale. “I was never hurt. It wasn’t my best performance and I’m very disappointed I lost the belt. I definitely want a rematch.”
