Barrett determined to erase the memory of Khan by Oliver Fennell Jun 5th 2007

It's a sad fact that sometimes good fighters are remembered more for one loss than any number of wins. At the highest level, the abiding image of Michael Spinks comes not from any of his 14 successful world championship outings, but rather from his brutally quick dismissal at the hands of a young Mike Tyson. Thamesmead southpaw Ryan Barrett, who challenges for John Simpson's British featherweight title in Mayfair on Friday night, knows the feeling. Despite his professional record being well in credit at 15-3-1 (3), despite possession of the British Masters 9st belt, and despite victories over national title-calibre opponents in Peter McDonagh (current Irish lightweight king) and Jamie McKeever (ex-British featherweight ruler), Barrett is primarily remembered for one night only. That night was September 2 last year, the opponent was Amir Khan, and the result was a resounding first-round stoppage for the Bolton prodigy. To the general public, Barrett was just another offering on Khan's diet of sacrificial lambs. They tuned in to ITV to see Ryan do what he was expected to do – get beaten quickly and easily – and then promptly forgot about him. But those 112 seconds – and the three knockdowns they contained – spent in the glare of millions did not do justice to poor Barrett. In fact, Willie Limond aside (who defends his Commonwealth super featherweight title against Khan on July 14), Barrett remains, on paper, the Olympian's best opponent to date. This is borne out by his challenge to Simpson on Friday. Barrett, 24, will be the first of Khan's domestic opponents to compete at Lonsdale level. Ryan is hoping to use this opportunity to show he is better than the Khan result made him look. He says: “I didn't take the Khan fight for the money, I took it to show I was worthy of competing in that class. “But what it showed wasn't that I wasn't good enough, just that I wasn't big enough.” Khan has come under criticism for picking on smaller men, and that was certainly the case with Barrett. Amir, after all, won an intercontinental strap at light welterweight in his next contest, while Barrett is fighting for featherweight honours tonight. That's a full stone in weight difference. But Barrett was 9st 12lb for Khan and he stands 5'10” tall, so why has he dropped two weight divisions? And how on earth has he managed to strip those pounds from a frame which already looked to have nothing to spare? For the how, Barrett's answer is simple: “A lot of hard work and at least six weeks' notice. I won't take any more late-notice fights.” As for why, he says: “I'm just not big enough. I walk around at light welter. “And if you want to fight at the highest level, you have to make sacrifices. I'll sacrifice six to eight weeks for a fight at featherweight.” This commitment was rewarded with an impressive win over former British ruler McKeever last time out (referee Ken Curtis scored 99-93 for Ryan) which earned Barrett not only Masters honours but also a shot at Simpson's national crown. It is a voluntary defence by Greenock man Simpson, despite the fight taking place on the London challenger's home territory. “They wanted me to go to Scotland and we were happy to go, but they [Ryan's promoters WSO] enticed him down here,” says Barrett. “The sponsors [property developers Lakedale Homes, who give Barrett a salary, enabling him to be a full-time pro] are paying for everything. All 40 tables will be full of people I know. It's only 10 miles from my house to the venue, but it must be 410 miles for him. “He's coming a long way to lose his title.” Ryan, who is trained by his dad Steve Barrett at Eltham ABC, believes the conditioning he'll have from a 10-week camp will be decisive against Simpson but, with only three inside-schedule victories from 19 contests, realises he's almost certainly in for the long haul. “I admit a stoppage is very unlikely,” says Ryan. “I'm going to have to work at it and I'm going to have to win by a comfortable margin. He's the champ and I'll not expect him to give it up easily.” Victory for Barrett will not only earn him the title but could also take him back to the bright lights of terrestrial television. Tonight's clash is off TV, but Frank Warren has dangled a five-fight carrot in front of Barrett on condition of a win. “They [Sports Network] have already got all my defences pencilled in,” says Barrett. “Andy Morris would be next, probably in September. Then there's Stephen Foster Jr and Derry Matthews.” Mancunian Morris preceded Simpson as British ruler but dropped the belt on a contentious cut eye stoppage to the Scot last December. “Morris was winning comfortably,” says Barrett. “It was silly he got stopped. “He only had five stitches but I had 10 stitches from a cut in round one against McKeever and it went the distance. “But Simpson's had a lot of bad luck himself. His loss to Dazzo Williams was very controversial and I thought he beat Derry.” Barrett winning the British title and signing with Warren could mean a return to terrestrial TV, where he was last seen being humbled by Khan. “Obviously I didn't like the result,” says Barrett, “but it was very nice to fight on such a big stage. “I'd have liked more notice. They only gave me eight or nine days. Well, I'm always training, so I'm always fit, but to fight someone like Khan you need eight weeks to prepare a strategy. “I was very upset how the fight went. You couldn't talk to me about it for months afterwards. The ref shouldn't have stopped the fight. Sure, the first knockdown, Khan got me, but the second knockdown, he hit me on top of the head. “The third knockdown, he didn't hit me once. The ref should have let me get to the end of the round. There's nothing more frustrating than a referee telling you that you can't go on, when you know you can.” Not that Barrett is saying he would have won. “All my losses [to Khan, Martin Watson in a British eliminator last year and Dafydd Carlin in an inconsequential four-rounder in 2003] were to the better men on the night,” he admits. “I've got no problem with losing to the better man. I broke my hand in the fourth round against Watson but he was beating me until then anyway. He was very tough and I have no excuses, definitely not.” This honesty is also evident when talking about some of his wins. When questioning his decision to drop to featherweight, I pointed out to Ryan that his only three stoppage successes came when he was weighing around the light welter limit. Barrett weighed over 10st when he stopped Martin Turner in the first in December 2002, was 9st 11lb when he beat Marty Kayes in two in May 2004 and 9st 12˝lb when halting Anthony Christopher in the opener of their June 2005 contest. “That's a good point,” says Barrett. “But in all honesty, and with all respect to them, those guys I stopped were absolutely useless. “But all my [other] opponents come with pedigree. Area champions, challengers. Durable guys. I've had a lot of late-notice fights. The reality is I don't have the luxury of easy fights.” Khan was certainly no easy fight. “He can be the European champion right now,” says Barrett. “And he'll flatten Limond, no problem. “He's definitely going to be a world champ, and I mean a legitimate one; WBC, WBA or IBF. “But you know what? With my hand on my heart, he can't punch for s***. It's just he's so fast, he can punch you twice in the time it takes anybody else to hit you once. “I thought I'd seen it all. I started boxing when I was seven, had my first fight at 11, had 75 amateur contests [winning 60], and you can always tell when a guy is about to throw a punch. A twitch in the shoulder, or he moves his feet, or something. With Khan, there's nothing. You don't know he's going to throw a punch until it hits you.” While the nation stays glued to Khan's progress, it shouldn't be overlooked that Barrett, at 24, is still young and ambitious himself. He “couldn't have asked for better” in preparation for Friday night and is brimming with enthusiasm about the future. “I want the Lonsdale belt outright and I won't fight for another title until I've got it,” he says. “After that, I'll look at the Commonwealth. Maybe one day I could fight Nicky Cook for the WBO [if Cook beats Steven Luevano for the vacant crown on July 14 – the same night as Limond-Khan]. That would be something.” A ‘world' title sounds like a lofty ambition for a man who was repelled so easily by Khan and Watson, but Barrett insists he's found his niche at featherweight. “I'm here permanently,” he says. “I wasn't big enough before [at lightweight and above] but I must be the tallest featherweight in the world now. A [near] 6ft southpaw will give any featherweight problems. “If I could make any fight, I'd go to Indonesia to fight [WBA champion] Chris John. He's not that great. I'd even take it on 10 days' notice; I could lose the weight there [in the tropical heat].” It's quite some dream, but what a way that would be to prove wrong the doubters who have only seen the Khan fight. But for Barrett, that's already old news. “I've moved on,” he says. “It was a very sore subject at the time, but I can laugh about it now. “For Christmas, I bought my friend Amir's book – signed by Ryan Barrett!”

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