By Scott Gilfoid: With four defeats in his last ten fights, former three-time world title challenge Matthew Macklin (35-6, 22 KOs) has reportedly retired from the sport after 15 years in the game.
Only 33, Macklin at least ended his career on a high note in defeating former world title challenger Brian Rose by a narrow 12 round majority decision last month on April 9. Macklin did not look good in that fight against Rose, nor did he look good in his previous fight against domestic level fighter Jason Welborn last October.
Macklin was very fortunate to get the win in that fight because it was one of those fights that could have gone the other way. It’s unclear if Macklin thought he should have beaten Rose easily the way that Carson Jones had done in his first fight against him and how Demetrius Andrade made short work of Rose.
If Macklin wanted a fast KO of Rose, then he should have blitzed him hard in the 1st round instead of fighting at a leisurely pace as if he were strolling in the park. Macklin didn’t press Rose hard, so it’s not surprising that he didn’t get a fast knockout in that fight. He fought the wrong way by not pressing him hard the way that Jones and Andrade did.
Macklin only has himself to blame for the Rose fight being a harder one than expected because he fought like he was trying to conserve his strength rather than trying for a fast knockout.
You can argue that Macklin probably should have tired after his third round knockout loss to WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin three years ago in 2013.
Another good time for Macklin to retire would have been after his 10th round knockout loss to Jorge Sebastian Heiland three fights later in November 2014.
“Last month, at the O2 Arena in London, around the halfway point in my fight with Brian Rose, I knew it was time to retire,” Macklin said via ESPN.com. “My face was marking up; I was getting frustrated at not being able to land my shots, and I knew that physically, after a long career, my body was telling me that enough was enough.”
Macklin missed out some interesting fights during his career against the likes of Andy Lee. That would have been a good one if the two of them had faced each other. It’s too bad Macklin doesn’t stick around long enough to fight Lee before retiring because both guys are kind of in the same boat. Macklin vs. Darren Barker would have been a good one as well. I don’t see they those guys never fought each other.
Macklin challenged for world titles against Golovkin, Sergio Martinez and Felix Sturm and was beaten by all three. Golovkin and Martinez both stopped Macklin. Sturm beat him by a disputed 12 round decision in June 2011 in a fight that took place in Cologne, Germany. Some boxing fans think Macklin was robbed in that fight.
I don’t think so. Macklin got tired and red-faced in the second half of the contest, and his punches lacked the power that was needed for him to win the fight. Sturm was landing with less frequency but with more power and looked like the better fighter of the two.