Darren Barker Vs Kerry Hope Preview Dec. 8
There’s another big British showdown this weekend when Darren Barker takes on Kerry Hope on Saturday Dec. 8 in a 12-round middleweight clash at London’s Alexandria Palace. Both of these boxers are former middleweight champions who are trying to get their careers back on track. The 31-year-old Hope, of Wales has a record of 18-4 with just one knockout while the 31-year-old Barker of London carries a 23-1 record with him along with 14 Kos. His only loss came to world middleweight champion Sergio Martinez when he was stopped in the 11th round in October of 2011.
Hope fought just s few weeks ago when he beat Norbert Szekeres by a six-round unanimous decision on Nov. 17 and he’s had three battles in the ring since March. On the other hand, Barker hasn’t been in the ring since his loss to Martinez over a year ago due to an ongoing hip injury. This will be just his fourth bout in the past three years and the inactivity could affect him. Hope won the European title in March when he upset the champion Grzegorz Proksa of Poland by taking a majority decision against him. He lost the belt in his first defence though just four months later when Proska knocked him out in the eighth round of their rematch.
Neither fighter can really afford a loss right now, and if Hope loses he’ll probably just get relegated to journeyman status. It doesn’t look good for him though since he doesn’t really have much power and he doesn’t own the world’s greatest chin either. Barker showed he can take a decent punch in his bout against Martinez and has decent power.
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Hope turned pro in 2005 and other than Proska, hasn’t fought any recognizable names. He’s lost four fights and been stopped in three of them. Barker turned professional in 2004 and fought slightly better opposition until meeting the best middleweight on the globe in Martinez. He put up a credible performance against the Argentinean champion, but was outclassed and outgunned.
It doesn’t look like Hope has any power at all really and against a fighter like Barker that puts him at a huge disadvantage. His only hope is to beat him on the scorecards by utilizing his boxing skills. He could also get a little lucky if Barker hasn’t fully recovered from his injury or is fighting ring rust. Barker just has to fight the same way he did against Martinez, but he has to be careful that he doesn’t get too far behind on the scorecards in the early going. If he does, he could start looking for a knockout and leave himself open for counter shots.
Prediction
Barker should simply be too good and strong for Hope, but he’ll probably need a few rounds to get going. Once he does though, look for him to stop Hope somewhere after the fourth round.
Odds
Sportsbook 5dimes.eu has the latest odds of a Barker win at -1500 and a Hope victory at +700. Visit 5Dimes.eu to see up to date odds and to bet on this fight. You should also check out our recent boxing betting predictions to see how we’ve done of late capping the fights.
Darren Barker betting • Kerry Hope betting