DARREN BARKER became a middleweight world champion with a spectacular victory over Daniel Geale. Injury ultimately forced him to retire and he would have trained differently, if he could do it all over again.
โTake more care of your body,โ he advised. โSilly things, like a decent pair of running trainers instead of a pair of Converse. If I hadnโt done silly things like that maybe I could have got more time out of my career. I donโt know. Little things like that, taking care of myself a bit more. I never really struggled with my weight but my diet wasnโt exactly the greatest.
โThatโs another thing, going back I wouldnโt have done as much running. But I was born with dodgy hips if you like. If I had known this earlier in my career I would have substituted the running early on.
โBut no regrets at all.โ
Darren believes that the way some are training is developing. โThereโs a very fine few but I think the majority are old school and stuck in their ways. We were told to pound the roads, do this, do that. But the sportโs progressing, advancing, training techniques are all changing and it all boils down to your coach at the end of the day and some discipline from the individual as well. But weโre evolving as a sport. I think weโre making a turn for the better,โ he said.
His own coaches made a huge difference to him personally. โIโm so lucky that Iโve been coached by some of the best. Tony Burns [the Repton amateur coach] and Tony Sims. They were always there for me. Until I have the time to be able to do so, I wonโt train anyone myself. They rely on you so Iโd have to be down at Repton all the time. At the minute I canโt do that. Itโs something Iโd like to give back to the club that made me who I am,โ he said.
โTony Burns, heโd get in your head. He wouldnโt do pads with you, [he’d] put you in sparring. Heโd coach you, give you brilliant bits of advice. I never wanted to disappoint him and exactly the same with Tony Sims. Heโs one of my best mates and always will be. We shared so much together, weโve been through so much together. Tonyโs a boxing historian, he knows everything, heโs watched the best. I wouldnโt say heโs underrated at all, I think heโs getting the recognition he deserves now. But he is a fantastic coach.
โI saw the changes in my style very early on. As an amateur I was very backfoot, the typical Repton style. I had my left hand out, fencing almost. He converted me into, I like to think, an all round [boxer]. I was pretty decent in all departments. I could box a bit, I could have a tear up too and thatโs thanks to Tony.
โHe took me to another level. Iโm indebted to him forever.
โThey managed to get the best out of you and Tony Sims definitely did that, he managed to get the best out of me. He knew me as a person, as a friend he knew me and he knew always if I was struggling and he knew how to get more from me.
“I wanted to stop and quit the sport loads of times because of injuries and what had happened but he was always there supporting me.
โHe was a brilliant coach but more importantly a fantastic friend to me.โ
CLICK HERE FOR BARKERโS REFLECTIONS ON HIS OWN CAREER