Hello all,

It's been a hectic week for me since I wrote my last blog. We flew John Ryder - a young and up-and-coming middleweight boxer who stands undefeated in five professional bouts – along with his coach Colin Lake out to Canada so I could get some more ring practice by way of sparring. John is another fighter who I think will have a long and prosperous boxing career and, as well as thanking him for the help he’s given me, myself and my team wish him all the best for the future.

Tony Sims, Mark Seltzer, Luke Chandler and my brother Lee have been great to have around whilst I’ve been out here with Lee’s meals hitting the spot every time! The closer I get to a fight, the moodier I seem to become and they’ve been brilliant with me, all of them putting up with a few tetchy moments. I suppose they’re used to it by now but the best thing is, they all understand that it’s just a part of the way I prepare for a fight and they swallow it. Although I feel bad about the way I sometimes act, they know in their hearts that I don’t mean anything by it.

On the whole, the training has been tough but I feel I’m in great shape and I’m approaching the peak of both my fitness and mental preparation for the forthcoming fight against Martinez. By way of trying to relax, we’ve had a crazy golf tournament and without going into the detail of who won it, all I’m going to say is ‘there’s only one Darren Barker!’ As well as that, we’ve been watching a bit of television and have mainly tuned into the sports channels. We all sat down to watch the Mayweather fight the other day and to put it simply, the ending was bizarre to say the least – only in America…

Lee, Mark and Tony were rubbing it in when Chelsea lost against Man Utd last Sunday but that’s what happens when, including the referee and one of the linesmen, you’re up against 13 men! A few of my Chelsea mates have been in touch with me since the game and have told me that the way they performed at Old Trafford was the best they’ve played all season so there’s hope for the Blues yet! The win against Fulham was good, even though it came down to penalties but considering Chelsea only had 10 players for 75 minutes of the game, it was a great result.

Joe Cole texted me from France and he sounds like he’s enjoying life at Lille after he signed on-loan from Liverpool. I met Joe when he was playing for Chelsea and was well pleased when he came to watch me fight at Watford Coliseum in May 2009 when I defended my Commonwealth Title against Darren McDermott. Joe is a massive boxing fan and it was a real buzz for me to have one of my footballing idols ringside watching me box. After the fight, Joe was good enough to step into the ring to present me with the belt and that moment still ranks amongst one of the best in my career so far.

As ever, I’m missing my family like mad but thanks to being able to keep in touch with them via Skype, they’ve been able to give me a boost each and every time I talk to them. Whilst I’ve been here, I’ve been thinking a lot about my late brother Gary. I know he’s with me every time I step into the ring to fight but this time when I take on Martinez, I’ll be boxing for Gary and I hope that he’ll be proud of the way I perform.

We’ve only got a day or so left in Niagara Falls before we move down to New York City for the final countdown to the fight. Although a change of scenery will do us all some good, I’ve got to thank all the people we’ve met since we’ve been in Canada. They’ve really looked after me and everybody with me and I can only thank them again for the kindness they’ve shown towards me.

Hopefully, I’ll be blogging next week a day or so before the fight so, until then, keep well!