BOXING: FIGHT ME!

It is now almost eight months since Barney became Southampton's first and only world champion, but it appears that nobody wants to challenge him for the title.

Barney thought he had the world at his feet when he shocked Portsmouth's Tony Oakey in the former champion's own back yard, but now the WBU light-heavyweight king feels disillusioned with the sport he loves.

The 29-year-old says he feels frozen out by some of the sport's leading figures and shockingly admits he might have been better off not winning the world title and keeping the British super-middleweight title he vacated.

Barney said: "There are people who have a lot of influence on boxing in this country and if your face doesn't fit, you feel like you don't get a chance.

"Sport should be about the best meeting the best, but that doesn't happen very much in boxing. In a way I wish I had just kept my British belt and not won the world title.

"Most fights you can predict who is going to win before it starts.

"When I have been on TV, commentators and pundits have run me down and not given me any credit."

Barney has an unorthodox style which tends to make for scrappy fights.

For that reason, it seems that promoters and TV companies simply do not view him as box office material.

But the 29-year-old believes that the boxing authorities should ensure he gets the opportunities his successful record merits.

He said: "I think it is partly because of my style, but maybe a combination of things that make me an outsider.

"I'm from Southampton, I have a Gypsy background and also I have not had much of an amateur career.

"In other sports, it doesn't matter how you win and it should be the same in boxing. I've won a British title and a world title and I should be given a chance to prove myself.

"I just want to fight. I want to prove I'm the best and I don't mind fighting a middleweight, super-middleweight or light-heavyweight."

A succession of potential fights have fallen through in recent months and it remains possible that Barney's next bout could be a rematch with south-coast rival Oakey once the Pompey man has served a one-year ban after testing positive for cocaine last year.

"I feel like I've had to serve a ban as well," said Barney.

The past eight months have been his longest absence from the ring since he turned professional back in 1998 and Barney added: "It has been the hardest time I have ever had in my boxing career.

"When I won the world title I thought it would be easier to get fights, but the more titles I have won, the worse it has got."