Barker looks to build on Euro title triumph

Edgeware and Mill Hill Press Dominique Stafford15th April, 2010

DARREN BARKER is confident that his European title triumph will prove to be a stepping stone for him to achieve even greater success in the remainder of his boxing career.

The 27-year-old from Barnet added the European Middleweight crown to his British and Commonwealth belts with a unanimous points victory over Frenchman Affif Belghecham at Alexandra Palace on Friday night.

And Barker believes that this win will pave the way for him to achieve his twin goals of beating fellow top Briton Matthew Macklin and, ultimately, being crowned world champion.

"It's going to be a really exciting time for me," he said. "A lot of opportunities will start coming my way now that I'm European champion, and hopefully I won't have to wait that long to get a shot at a world title.

"It was the ideal scenario for me to be fighting so close to home, but it would have been even more perfect if I'd been against Macklin.

"I don't know how many times I've mentioned now that I want to take him on. Although I'm British champion a lot of people see him as the British number one, so it would be nice to beat him to become the outright number one in the country

"It would be an absolutely massive fight, and maybe it will happen when we've both got world titles."

Barker was certainly made to work hard to overcome the durable Belghecham - who has never been stopped inside the distance - as he was forced to go the full 12 rounds for the first time since he beat Ben Crampton to first claim the Commonwealth title back in 2007.

But, despite being not entirely satisfied with his display, the boxer feels that the hard-fought triumph will stand him in good stead for the future.

"It wasn't a great performance but it's a good achievement to get another title," he said. "If someone had said to me when I was a kid that I would become European, British and Commonwealth champion I would have grabbed it with both hands.

"It was a good fight for me, because I know that I can't have things my own way all the time. I hadn't done 12 rounds for a long time and I did start tiring a bit toward the end, so I think it has done me a lot of good."

After taking a short break, Barker will sit down with his coach Tony Sims and decide whether to have another fight before undergoing keyhole surgery on a hip problem.