(Photo credit: Dibella Entertainment) By Jim Dower: WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (26-0, 23 KO’s) successfully made weight today for his title defense against Matthew Macklin (29-4, 20 KO’s) on Saturday night in weighing in at 159 lb. Macklin also weighed in at 159. The Golovkin-Macklin fight will be televised by HBO from the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort, in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
Golovkin is considered to be the favorite to win because of his big power, slight size advantage and his amateur experience. However, Macklin is a live underdog and he’s got the better experience as a pro than Golovkin. Macklin has been in with Felix Sturm and Sergio Martinez in the past and he gave both tough fights.
Golovkin needs an impressive win in this fight to get him to the next level. He can’t afford to struggle against Macklin if he wants to make believers out of fans. Golvokin had some problems in beating Gabriel Rosado last January in winning by a 7th round TKO.
When Rosado surprised Golovkin in that fight when he took the fight to him in the 5th round after using a lot of movement in the first four rounds. He was able to mark Golovkin up in the 5th with some big shots. However, Golovkin put his foot down on the accelerator in the 6th and hurt Rosado a nice right uppercut. A round later, Rosado’s corner stopped the fight because Rosado’s face was too cut up for him to fight.
Macklin wants to take Golovkin deep in the fight to try and take advantage of his stamina. He’s seen that few fighters have been able to go the distance with him, and he believes this is one area where he can take advantage of Golovkin. To be sure, Golovkin has knocked out his last 13 opponents dating back to 2008.
That’s a long time since Golovkin has had to go the distance, and even then we’re talking about an 8 round fight. On Saturday night, Macklin and Golovkin will be fighting a 12 round bout, and if Macklin can take Golovkin into the later rounds, he just might be able to wear him down.
Here are the other weights on the card:
Thomas Oosthuizen 167 vs. Brandon Gonzales 166
Willie Nelson 153 vs. Luciano Cuello 153
Danny O’Connor 152 vs. Hector Munoz 151
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