By Scott Gilfoid: 32-year-old Matthew Macklin (30-5, 20 KO’s) has joined the Matchroom Sport team for the August 30th card at the National Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. There’s no word about who Macklin will be fighting, but it makes sense to assume that it’s going to be a weaker opponent in order to make sure that he doesn’t get beaten. Macklin has lost 3 out of his last 5 fights. Not good, is it?
The talk is that they want to match Macklin up against Andy Lee later this year in a domestic level scrap. It’s a good fight because both guys are around then same level with the same career outlook.
As far as Macklin getting another title shot, I can’t see it. He’s fought for world titles three times in the past three years in defeats against Gennady Golovkin, Felix Sturm and Sergio Martinez. It’s a miracle that Macklin was given world title shots over and over again despite him losing each time. I still don’t understand how the WBA sanctioned the second fight after Macklin had already been beaten by Felix Sturm.
“It’s been four years since I last boxed in the UK and five since I boxed in Ireland so I am really looking forward to boxing this side of the Atlantic again,” said Macklin. “The National Stadium has always been a great traditional venue for Irish boxing and I think the atmosphere on August 30 will be electric.”
Macklin is going to need to be matched carefully if he wants to be able to get to the Andy Lee fight in one piece. Macklin was blown out by Golovkin in 3 rounds last year in June, and in his last fight, Macklin struggled to defeat a fighter by the name of Lamar Russ last December in winning a 10 round decision. An impressive performance it was definitely not by Macklin.
Unbeaten prospect Anthony Joshua will be on the undercard facing a still to be determined opponent.
“I have been looking at bringing a big show to Dublin for some time and I am delighted to start a new era there for Matchroom Boxing on Aug 30 headlined by Matthew Macklin,” said Hearn. “Matthew is a proven world-level fighter on the verge of another World title shot and I am delighted to also be working with our American partner Lou DiBella on making that happen. Fans in Dublin can expect a corker of a card with Olympic Super Heavyweight king Joshua fighting in the city for the first time as a pro and an all-Irish grudge match between Spike O’Sullivan and Anthony Fitzgerald.”
Macklin, like Tony Bellew and Nathan Cleverly, is at a point in his career where he’s going to find it hard to find success at the world level at middleweight, because the division has gotten better lately, and there’s no weak links for him to fight for a world title. To be sure, Macklin can dominate the C and D level fighters, but he’s going to struggle when matched against the best middleweights.
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