Saturday night at the Revel Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, ?Dazzling? Darren Barker (26-1, 16 KOs), from London, England, outworked Daniel ?Real Deal? Geale (29-2, 15 KOs), from Mt. Annan, Australia, to win the IBF middleweight title by scores of 114-113, 116-111, and 113-114 after 12 tempestuous rounds.
In a stacked division loaded with talent, Barker and Geale outdid themselves and delivered a fight that far exceeded expectations. Stylistic differences aside, both fighters came to fight and went for broke. What they may lack in raw power, they more than made up for with exuberance, toughness, and bottomless warrior soul.
After a moving opening ceremony where Geale?s uncle, an Aborigine in bodypaint, played a musical interlude on a didgeridoo, a wind instrument made from eucalyptus and developed 1500 years ago, the IBF champion, fighting out of the red corner in red trunks with black trim, bounded to the center of the ring.
Barker, fighting out of the blue corner in blue trunks trimmed in white, met Geale at ring center with considerably less fanfare. Instead of a didgeridoo, Dazzling Darren?s music consisted of some beautiful left looks followed by an uppercut to get the festivities underway.
Both men were throwing punches with bad intentions in the early going. Barker appeared more composed and disciplined, while Geale was always moving, always firing off punches, using his nimble athleticism to good effect. They split the first two rounds. The heavier handed Barker landed some beautiful body shots to take the third, and fourth could have gone either way in what had quickly turned into a thrilling, action packed fight.
By round five it was obvious that we were witnessing something special. Geale started things off with a solid right to Barker?s face, followed by a duet of four-punch combinations to the body, punctuated by a picture perfect uppercut. Geale?s corner told him between rounds, ?Don?t do the rope thing. It doesn?t look good for us.? Barker was starting to bust up. It was a big round for the champ.
No sooner did the sixth round begin than Geale dropped Barker with a perfectly placed left hook to the liver. The Londoner went down as if shot. He was on his hands and knees, registering the pain, monitoring the pain, calibrating the pain. But he someone found the wherewithal to get to his feet, beat the count, and amazingly came back fighting. He drove Geale to the ropes with a series of punches as the round drew to a close.
Geale?s cornerman told him, ?Excellent work. He ain?t got much left.? It was excellent work. But Barker, incredibly, not only had much left, he took over the fight at that point. Whether it was the comeback of the year or comeback of his career is hard to ascertain. What isn?t hard to ascertain is that Barker threw more punches, threw the harder punches, and even though he was bleeding and busted up, he imposed his will on a terrific champion and walked away with his title.
