Hard-hitting Sergio Martinez, commonly regarded among the top five “pound for pound’ boxers, will defend his WBC middleweight Diamond belt against unbeaten Darren Barker in a bout to be broadcast live on SuperSport this weekend.
With dominant wins against Kelly Pavlik and Paul Williams, the Argentine has established himself as the best middleweight in the world, although Barker’s trainer, Tony Sims, labelled Pavlik “dead man walking’ and claimed the other top names on his record were blown up middleweights.
Barker might be unbeaten, but his record is littered with domestic fighters and he has only ever fought once outside the UK.
Martinez (47-2-2) has lost just once in 11 years and is a strong favourite to defend his crown.
On the undercard, South Africa-based super-middleweight Isaac Chilemba will fight Jameson Bostuc, a rugged American southpaw who makes his home in New Zealand.
The formline suggests Chilemba will be too slick over 10 rounds, although Bostuc has only one defeat in the past five years.
SuperSport 5 will cross live to The Boardwalk in New Jersey at 3am on Sunday morning.
