Alan Dawson – London
Darren Barker re-claimed the EBU Middleweight title after a one-sided decision victory over Italian roughhouser Domenico Spada. Londoner Barker, who had not boxed in over a year due to a recovery from an operation to rid him of a shoulder injury, appeared to be well greased as he showed no signs of ring rust. He showed good stamina, stellar combination work and made a number seven world ranked opponent look completely inferior at London’s Olympia venue on Saturday, April 30.
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Dawson’s scorecard
| Round |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
| Spada |
9 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
10
|
Barker
|
10
|
9 |
10 |
10 |
10
|
10 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
Judges scorecards - 116-113, 116-113, 115-113.
Fight fans had not seen Darren Barker dazzle for over a year and, even in his last fight, against Affif Belghecham, he was hardly inspiring. Barker, though, had been fighting through injury and, in his year of inactivity, had surgery in order to rid him of the troubling hip problem. The possibility of ring-rust, especially over a 12 round distance, could have been something that gave an advantage to his expressionless opponent Domenico Spada, who relinquished almost four inches of height and two inches of reach to Barker.
Round One
Barker received a football star’s reception once the ring announcer formally introduced him. It was an almost like-for-like tribute to the support that followed Ricky Hatton from the MEN Arena in Manchester, to the Las Vegas strip. Spada started with swift fists while Barker boxed loosely. The Londoner altered his posturing from a low guard to high depending on when Spada was on the front-foot or if he [Barker] was shooting from the hip. Barker used angles well and attacked the body. Spada, despite giving up a fair amount of height, had a lot of strength in his 5’9 frame.
Round Two
In the second round, Spada went after the right side of Barker’s body with his heavy left hand. The Italian also found good success to the head and took confidence from his accurate one-two (sometimes three) shot combinations. Spada dominated the first minute and half yet Barker boxed his way back into contention for the round deep into the second minute. Spada, though, looked lethal with the counter.
Round Three
Spada’s upper body and foot movement was jittery. Barker was at his best when using his height and reach and boxing on the outside, he kept the Roman at arm’s distance and even had Spada against the ropes momentarily. It did not take long for Spada to re-exert himself and his bursts of activity troubled the Englishman – particularly when they were head bound as Barker’s brow already looked to have swelled.
Round Four
Barker settled into the fight by the fourth. His fistic variety was highlighted with powerful lefts to Spada’s chest and stiff rights to the beak. Barker never unleashed anything more than a three-punch combination as he was perhaps wary about the counter. Barker’s accuracy was enhanced the longer the fight had gone on and he had begun to make Spada miss.
Round Five
Barker’s foot movement kept Spada on his toes. Instead of boxing in circles around his opponent, Barker would mix it up. As the fight entered the middle rounds, Spada seemed to lack intuition or any type of gameplan. Barker, though, maintained his… employing his fast hand speed to get away with mini flurries before either ducking or moving out of trouble.
Round Six
Since a clash of heads in the third that caused a swelling over Barker’s brow, his cutman had been working frantically with the enswell to reduce any damage. Barker targetted Spada’s body with a hard punch yet the Italian replied with a five-punch combo to Barker’s breadbasket. Spada got caught with a superb head-shot midway through the sixth stanza. Thirty seconds later, Barker again landed a brace of stunning head-shots – finalised with the penetrating right that troubled Spada earlier.
Round Seven
The seventh was sloppier than any of the preceding rounds. Spada looked to nullify Barker’s slickness by spoiling. When he wasn’t tying-up, he swung his fists with a reckless abandon. Barker attempted to revert back to the one-two but he became frustrated with Spada’s new-found tactics. It worked for Spada, he busier and was the aggressor.
Round Eight
Barker re-established his jab in the eighth. And he geed up the crowd with the one-two that had been successful throughout the course of the fight. The final minute bore powerful exchanges. Barker’s usage of combinations proved he was the greater boxer in terms of technical skill, yet Spada retained a bully status. The best shot of the round was Barker’s left uppercut that landed right on the button.
Round Nine
Spada was out of ideas in the ninth. It was a messy round. Spada hit Barker with a good hook yet there was not much boxing of note due to the constant clinching. Barker tried to jump and fight his way out of the clinch while Spada’s arms would tighten around the Englishman’s midriff. Barker’s work-rate, considering he had been out of the ring for so long, was strong.
Round Ten
Despite the instruction from Barker’s corner insisting Barker box in bursts before moving away, the Londoner strung together a solid head-bound four punch combo in the tenth that was worthy of commendation.
Round Eleven
The two and three punch flurries from Barker continued to impress, as well as his head movement, making Spada miss and generally looking the superior fighter. The only way Spada will be able to nick it is via knockout and, while Barker has received a number of blows to the head, there was no danger of him getting decked. Barker controlled the tempo and, considering he had been fighting for 33 minutes, was testament to his attitude to training following such a lengthy spell outside the ring.
Round Twelve
The closing stanza was unattractive. The referee was required to intervene to break up clinches on numerous occasions. Barker produced another flurry to spark the crowd’s roar yet Spada may have edged the round because it was he who was forcing the round. Over the course of the fight, though, with a title on the line, Spada had not done enough.
The key factors in the fight were Barker’s boxing ability. His slick style, foot and head movement, speed of hand and his combination work. Predominantly using two to three punch flurries before moving away from danger, Barker frustrated Spada continuously. So much so, that the Italian – who is by no means a slouch in terms of ranking (he is rated 7th in the world) – appeared average in comparison and resorted to rough-house tactics, clinching and generally making himself a nuisance to Barker’s work. Barker, too, was the far busier boxer – he threw 737 shots compared to Spada’s 440 and landed 132 compared to Spada’s 78. Barker was awarded a unanimous decision, won the EBU Middleweight belt in the process, yet the tight 115-113 scorecard provided by judge Francisco Vazquez Marcos was nothing short of questionable. Barker rose to 23-0-0 with 14 knockout wins while Spada dropped to 32-4-0.
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Tags: Boxing scorecard, Darren Barker, Domenico Spada, Round by round summary
