• Steve Bunce

Barker's dilemma & Klitschkos' fear of Haye

Darren Barker has been out of the ring for a year © Getty Images

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Darren Barker finds himself in a must-win European middleweight title fight against Domenico Spada on Saturday, knowing that if he loses, then he will tumble out of world title contention. That said, if he wins, there are plenty of options available to him.

It might sound ridiculous - in fact, it is ridiculous - but at middleweight there are six men who can legitimately call themselves a world champion.

The main man in that group is Sergio Gabriel Martinez of Argentina, who has the WBC's diamond belt in recognition of him being arguably the best of the champions. Barker will believe that Martinez is very beatable, though - he's not a young man, so you suspect his best days are behind him.

But first it's Spada, and that won't be easy as the Italian has lost just three times, going the full 12 rounds on each occasion. Two of those defeats were against Sebastian Zbik, who holds the WBC interim middleweight title - not to be confused with the diamond title - which he defends on June 4 against Julio Cesar Chavez.

Although he suffered disappointment against Zbik, getting those rounds under his belt will give Spada an edge against Barker, who has not fought for a year since beating Affif Belghecham on points - and in that bout he was, by his own admission, unimpressive. In the same period, Spada has had two easy wins against knock-over opponents.

At Olympia on Saturday, Barker will need to make sure that his loyal following do not make him forget that he is a boxer first and a slugger second. To beat Spada, Barker will have to use his brain, his calculating jab - and take his time. He will win, and he can look spectacular doing so, which is exactly what he needs when it comes to negotiating for a potential world title fight in September.

In moving up to world level, Barker is staring at a problem because of all the doors he has opening up in front of him. Does his promoter, Eddie Hearn, put in a massive bid for Martinez, or do they go for the leftovers of the Chavez-Zbik fight? They could start to get creative, and offer good money to Dmitry Pirog for the WBO belt - or the winner of the IBF title fight between Daniel Geale and Sebastian Sylvester in May.

There are even more options available. One is the beautifully-named Frenchman, Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam, who has got the WBA interim title. Although having so many belts makes it confusing, it gives fighters far more options - 30 years ago, when Alan Minter was trying to get a world title fight, there was just one champion, and he waited a long time for his opportunity.

'It's time Barker got in the ring with Matt Macklin. Simple.' © Getty Images

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The fight Barker wants most, and one that would be easy to sell anywhere in the UK, is the winner of the June showdown between Felix Sturm and Matt Macklin on June 25, for Sturm's super WBA title (yeah, I know, it's impossible to keep up).

Barker has his heart set on this, for a simple reason: he hates Macklin. Strong word, sure, but the relationship between these two can only be described as hateful. They were meant to meet in 2009 and 2010, with secret purse bids taking place on both occasions - but both times the fight fell through. It was Macklin's fault once, and Barker's the other time. They have been swapping insults for far too long, and it's time Barker got in the ring with him. Simple. If Macklin loses, go for Sturm and keep the Macklin fight alive.

Twelfth Round

Haye venue
We always knew the Wladimir Klitschko-David Haye fight would be in Germany, not Moscow or anywhere else crazy. There'll be 57,000 people at the Imtech Arena in Hamburg, but I don't think Haye will be happy with that number, because in Gelsenkirchen in June 2009 - when he was first scheduled to meet Wladimir - over 70,000 tickets had been sold. There will be a long-running battle over tickets for this fight. Haye is fighting for more tickets - he knows that his fans will travel.

Haye says he's made a lot of concessions, and he's had to because the Klitschko camp has put up so many barriers. In 2009, Wladimir and Vitali definitely wanted to fight Haye because they fancied their chances then - and now I'm not so sure they do. Both Klitschkos know Haye has the power, ability and speed to knock them out, and if he does that then he will ruin their image. If the last picture of either Klitschko is with David Haye standing above them, then that's not a good image to end with.

DeGale's snub
James DeGale has made a great move by turning down a world title shot in order to go after long-term rival George Groves on May 21. The terms could have been rubbish for him if he went after a major belt, and it could have taken place overseas, whereas now he has a fight on home soil against a guy he's wanted to get in the ring for ages, which is absolutely made in the shade for him.

It doesn't mean Groves is an easier fight - far from it - but business wise, it's the right move.

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