Promoter Lou DiBella offered the fight with Martínez to titleholders Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Daniel Geale as well as junior middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto and Paul Williams, for a rubber match.

[5] In his second defense, Martínez laid a beating on junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk, HBO's preferred opponent who moved up in weight for the opportunity.

[7] Barker won the vacant EBU middleweight title with a unanimous decision win over France's Affif Belghecham on April 9, 2010.

[9] Barker returned to ring on April 30, 2011, once again winning the vacant EBU middleweight crown with a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Italy's Domenico Spada.

Barker had some success early in the fight, landing some jabs and a few straight rights that made Martínez's nose to bleed in the fourth round.