On Saturday night, by way of major network television broadcast, the US and many parts of the world were exposed to two British champions. Though in separate fights and in different time zones, one man was entering the ring with a belt and the other exiting. It truly was the best of times for the newly-crowned Darren Barker, and the worst of times for now former titlist, Nathan Cleverly. In neither fight was the UK-native favored, yet one Brit was able to strategize and persevere, while the other left audiences shaking their collective heads. The Good In capturing the IBF middleweight championship, Darren Barker demonstrated qualities that are universally respected, among boxing fans, the world-over. While he showed courage in taking on a tough fighter in Daniel Geale, he was also intelligent in executing a fight plan for the Aussie. Barker knew that he was the more accurate puncher and, as long as he was not dramatically out-worked by the usually busier Geale, he could, realistically, have his hand raised by night?s end. The Londoner also showed the guts of a burglar in rising from a body shot-induced knock down that would have stopped a good majority of fighters. In summary, he was smart with his selection of opponent and game plan, and tough in his style for 12 rounds. Fight fans could not ask for more. Barker now faces an IBF mandatory match with Felix Sturm, in which he will have a decided advantage if, as would be justified, the fight were to take place in the UK. Sturm aside, the world wants to see Darren Barker again, soon, and on an elevated stage. In addition to his skill and toughness in the ring, Barker has compelling, made for TV, stories of personal triumph over adversity. Gennady Golovkin, anyone? The Bad Nathan Cleverly. Enough said. Ok, I?ll elaborate. Pre-fight, Cleverly was very enthusiastic at the prospect of facing one of the most avoided fighters in the sport. As I had previously written, unless the Welshman introduced some elements of surprise, Cleverly?s style would render him as minced meat against Sergey Kovalev. Many considered the Russian to be a curious if not irresponsible selection of opponent. Boxing people continually espouse, ?styles make fights.? Cleverly?s style is to stand at range, and to trade with moderate punching power. Kovalev?s style is also to exchange, but with devastating power. Surely, or so was theorized, the Cleverly camp had seen footage of Kovalev and would make adjustments accordingly. The surprise on Saturday night was that there was no surprise from Cleverly. The same fighter, that we had seen 26 times previously, showed up and, predictably, got clobbered. No pre-fight adjustments were made and perhaps worse, no in-fight adjustments were seen. Instead, Cleverly tasted Kovalev?s power and seemingly folded his tent. The Ugly Notwithstanding this sentence, Darren Barker bears no mentioning in this section. For Nathan Cleverly, however, many questions linger. Primarily, what was his motivation in taking the fight with Kovalev? It was not mandated by the WBO and certainly didn?t appear as a favorable style match for Cleverly, yet the Welshman was ?over the moon? when the bout was finalized. We may never know the answer, but a cynic can credibly argue that Nathan informally sold his title on Saturday night. It is no secret that a widely-televised fight, such as Saturday?s, generates considerable revenue and should result in larger purses for each fighter. HBO, the network that broadcast the fight in the US, has been a consistent Kovalev proponent and likely would have paid handsomely for the broadcast rights. To the extent that championship belts are promotional tools, Kovalev?s newly garnered title will help HBO?s future marketing of the Russian. It?s true that styles make fights, but, at the end of the day, money talks. PHOTO: Diamond Boxing
