Photo © Justin McKie - Darren Barker (right) goes on the attack in his most recent bout against Darren McDermott.

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Dave Oakes Previews Saturday night's British middleweight title match-up between Darren Barker and Wayne Elcock.

Darren Barker and Wayne Elcock square off this Saturday night for the vacant British middleweight title. The title showdown looks like it’ll be the last fight to be shown on ITV for the foreseeable future as boxing receives another hefty hit from the recession. The loss of Setanta was bad enough for the sport but the loss of live boxing from terrestrial TV is a massive blow for everyone involved.

I hope that Barker and Elcock put on a great fight to show the TV bigwigs what they’re going to be missing. One thing’s for certain, most sane people would prefer to watch boxing than the endless amounts of ‘celebrity’ drivel that pollutes our screens every night.

The up-and-coming Barker is expected to claim the title with relative ease against the tough former champion. Elcock is coming into the fight off a bad stoppage defeat against Matthew Macklin earlier in the year; he was knocked down heavily and stopped in the third round against the current European champion. I sense that Barker’s camp feel they are taking on a fighter who’s on the decline, but sometimes boxers in the last chance saloon can be dangerous opponents.

Elcock has proven over the years that he’s not afraid of anyone and is a boxer who always puts everything on the line. He’s come up short a few times in his career, noticeably against Arthur Abraham in a world title tilt a couple of years back, but has some impressive wins on his record, including a points victory over Howard Eastman and a fifth round stoppage win in a rematch against Lawrence Murphy. Elcock suffered the first defeat of his career against Murphy when he was on the end of one of the most brutal knockouts seen in a British ring in the past ten years.

The biggest mark against Elcock is his chin; three of his four defeats have come inside the distance. Despite this, I wouldn’t say he was glass jawed, he took some hard punches against Scott Dann but still made it to the final bell. The main problem is that he’s far too easy to hit, the way Macklin went through him will be a worry. Although he doesn’t hit as hard, Barker is faster and more accurate than Macklin, he’s quite methodical in the way he fights, which should suit Elcock better than Macklin’s style did, but I can see him peppering Elcock with shots all night long.

Barker is being tipped for big things, he was originally the mandatory challenger for Macklin but Macklin chose to vacate the belt in order to challenge, and consequently win, the European title. It’s still a fight that both of them want, and a fight that every fan in Britain is waiting eagerly for.

Barker is a smooth fighter; he doesn’t rush into things, he prefers to take his time and chooses his punches intelligently. We’ve yet to see how he responds when he’s put under pressure and gets backed up, but up until now, he’s looked very impressive in compiling an undefeated record of 20-0 (13 early). He captured the Commonwealth belt a couple of years ago and has made four defences of it, albeit against reasonable rather than top class opponents.

I can see Elcock boxing cautiously early on, but feel that Barker is the better boxer at long range, and that, along with his speed advantage, may force Elcock to change his tactics after the first three or four rounds. If Elcock doesn’t make the necessary adjustments then he’ll be in for a long, hard fight. I believe Elcock will put in a spirited effort but Barker’s youth, speed and accuracy will eventually be too much for the older man to handle. I wouldn’t be surprised if Elcock went the distance but I fancy Barker to get the job done late on due to an accumulation of punches rather than a one-punch knockout.

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SBN coverage of Darren Barker v. Wayne Elcock (ITV4)