By Michael Lieberman: EBU middleweight champion Mathew Macklin (28-2, 19 KO’s) is facing his moment of truth on April 9th against 39-year-old Ronald “Winky” Wright (51-5-1, 25 Kos’) in a scheduled 10 round bout at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 28-year-old Macklin has seen his ratings surge by the sanctioning bodies in the past year and he’s now ranked incredibly high despite having beaten only Euro level opponents and mostly fringe contenders during his 10 year pro career.

Macklin is facing one of the best junior middleweights that have come around in a long time in Wright. The question is whether Wright is old and shot enough for Macklin to win. If Wright has anything left, Macklin is in deep, deep trouble. Wright may have lost his last two fights to Bernard Hopkins and Paul Williams, but those guys are so much better than the kinds of guys that Macklin has been facing up until now. Wright clearly has lost a step or two in the past four years, but he is so much better than Macklin to begin with, it might not matter that he’s lost a significant amount of his skills. Wright’s jab is first class and second to none in boxing.

With his jab alone, Wright is gong to make Macklin miserable in there on April 9th. It doesn’t take a lot of energy to sit back and throw jabs, and I have no doubt that Wright can jab Macklin all night long without tiring. Macklin doesn’t have the same kind of high volume punch output that Williams had in his victory over Wright in 2009. And Macklin doesn’t have the fast hands and the punch and grab technique that Hopkins used to beat Wright in 2007. The only question about this fight if if Wright’s inactivity and rust has hurt him to the point where he’s a mere 50% of what he used to be. If that’s the case, then I think Macklin will have a chance to win a narrow decision.