DARREN BARKER: My mum graduated as a mature student. We was up at the Southbank, and my phone rang, and it was Eddie [Hearn]. I was walking over the bridge, back to Embankment. “Good news – got the fight with [Daniel] Geale.” “Right – that is it. This is it. This is it now.” I was so excited – I didn’t even ask how much I was getting. I didn’t care. I was buzzing.
Eddie Hearn: Tony had said to me: “We’re out of contract – would you be interested in promoting Darren Barker?” He was, effectively, my first signing. You never knew when it would be over. He was becoming so disheartened with the injuries, and it looked like the big paydays were eluding him. “We’ve got a title shot – Gennady Golovkin.” “No thanks.” “But they don’t even really want a purse.” I subsequently found out why.
Tony Sims: “Mate, there’s no way you’re putting Darren Barker in with Gennady Golovkin unless you’re giving him the minimum of a couple of million.”
The [Sergio] Martinez fight was a big learning fight for him. It was the best thing we’d done; after that fight he knew that he could mix at world level. When this fight come about, he knew he was ready.
By then, we’d had to halt the running. He started swimming, and did a lot of yoga and stretching and exercises. He was still sparring and doing the pad work the same.
He also worked heavily on the mind. Physically, he was good. He was in a really good place going
