Barker in final after farce

England's Darren Barker was today guaranteed at least a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games boxing after his light-welterweight rival failed to turn up.

The only punch that Barker, a 20-year-old decorator from Barnet, threw in anger was into thin air as boxing rules forced him to endure the farce of gloving up and climbing through the ropes on his own.

The blue corner remained empty after Emenogu Davidson of Nigeria withdrew with a leg injury. In the red corner, while England supporters within Manchester's MEN Arena laughed and cheered, Barker's headguard and gumshield were inspected by the referee.

Then, when the beeper sounded for the start of round one, he came out flailing with his right hand but there was no one there to take it on the chin.

"I felt really stupid," said Barker. "I definitely would have liked to have fought the Nigerian. I'm super-fit, I know what I'm capable of and I was definitely capable of beating him. It is a bit of a let-down. On the other side of it I have definitely got silver so I have mixed emotions."

England's Paul Smith followed Barker into Saturday's finals with a one-point win over former European Championship gold medallist Craig McEwan of Scotland.