By Eric Thomas: Top middleweight contender Matthew Macklin (28-2, 19 KO’s) has finally gotten the world title shot that he’s been so long craving. The 28-year-old Macklin will be facing Super World WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm (35-2-1, 15 KO’s) on June 25th according to fightnews.

You knew something was up when Macklin suddenly pulled out of his previously scheduled WBA eliminator bout against Khoren Gevor, which was supposed to be taking place on the undercard of the Amir Khan vs. Paul McCloskey fight on April 16th. But with Macklin now getting a shot at Sturm’s title there’s no point in the Gevor fight.

Macklin is coming off a disappointing performance against Ruben Varon last December, winning by a narrow 12 round decision but absorbing a lot of punishment in a fight he should have been able to easily win. In facing Sturm, this is a big step up for Macklin because he’s been fighting B level opponents his entire career and not always looking good.

Sturm looked pretty poor in his last fight against Ronald Hearns. Although Sturm eventually stopped Hearns in the 7th, he got hit a lot and ended up with a swollen face. Sturm has managed to hold onto his WBA title a lot longer than he probably deserves by taking on a number of beatable fighters. Sturm generally opts to take on lower ranked fighters during his optional defenses and this has enabled him to get a lot of easy wins at the expense of keeping him from becoming a popular fighter worldwide. However, Sturm is popular in Germany where he fights out of there are few complaints about him not facing dangerous contenders.

Sturm should be able to get by Macklin without too many problems. Macklin is an okay fighter but not especially powerful or fast and very hittable. This is someone that Sturm can beat, which is obviously the only reason Macklin is getting a shot at the title. You’re not seeing Sturm facing guys like Gennady Golovkin, Sergio Martinez or Kelly Pavlik. Those guys would have an excellent chance of knocking Sturm cold.