Darren “Dazzling” Barker and Daniel “The Real Deal” Geale fought an all out action packed twelve round bout that could be considered one of the fights of the year; in which Barker earned the hard fought split decision victory over Geale to become the new International Boxing Federation (“IBF”) Middleweight Champion. Barker garnered two scorecards of 116-111 and 114-113 while Geale received the other scorecard of 114-113.
This fight was televised by HBO Boxing After Dark from the Revel Casino – Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Barker from England improved his record to 26-1, 16KOs with the victory and has won three consecutive fights since his lone loss as a professional when he was stopped by current World Boxing Council Middleweight Champion and one of the pound for pound best fighters in the world, Sergio Martinez in the eleventh round.

(photo credit: Main Events) Sergey Kovalev has emerged as a force to be reckoned with and he is like a breath of fresh air. Fans like to see boxers winning decisively beyond doubt and leaving no room for controversy and politics. Kovalev did just that and perhaps established himself as a leading pay-per-view star. Here is a quick breakdown of his winning effort:
Darren Barker (26-1, 16 KO’s) defeated IBF middleweight champion Daniel Geale (29-2, 15 KO’s) tonight by a 12 round split decision to win his IBF 160 lb. title at the Revel Resort, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. Barker got the decision by the scores 114-113 for Geale, 114-113, 116-111 for Barker.
(Photo Credit: Eoin Mundow/SEEN Sport Magazine) WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (26-1, 12 KO’s) was BADLY exposed tonight by the unbeaten powerful Russian Sergey Kovalev (22-0-1, 20 KO’s) in what you can only call a total slaughter in losing to Kovalev by a 4th round TKO at the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. Heck, it wasn’t even a fight.
Light heavyweight contender Andrzej Fonfara (24-2, 14 KO’s) kept himself in position for a title shot by defeating 34-year-old veteran Gabriel Campillo (22-6-1, 9 KO’s) by a 9th round stoppage on Friday night at the U.S. Cellular Field, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Campillo was pretty much finished in the 8th round after getting hit with a right hand that hurt him by Fonfara.
In the 10-round main event, Russian sluger Rustam Nugaev continued to impress the boxing world with a spectacular performance against a game Jose Hernandez. Both fighters had their moments in the early rounds. Hernandez would land combinations in spurts as did Nugaev, but it was the Russian who did the most damage in the exchanges. In the fifth round, Rustam landed a solid temple shot, followed by a vicious body blow that put Hernandez down and out. Nugaev never backed up during the fight and the pressure was too much for Hernandez who gave a valiant effort in defeat. With the KO victory, Nugaev moves to (27-4, 15 KOs) as Hernandez drops to (14-7-1, 6 KOs). The bout was stopped the 1:38 mark of round 5.