By Simon Hirst: Some very good boxing was on offer last night to warm the tastebuds of next week’s fight of the year. Three interesting matches with different expectations for all of them. Brook’s test against N’dou was to see how good Brook was. Macklin had his first world title shot to see if he could mix it at world class level and Alexander was rebounding off his first loss against the dangerous, big punching Lucas Matthysse in what should test Alexander’s heart.

Starting with Brook, N’dou was a credible test for him. He had been in with some of the world’s top class such as Cotto and Alvarez and had yet to be stopped. As the fight begun, it appeared N’dou would hear the final bell as Brook was easily winning rounds, but perhaps not inflicting much damage. As the fight wore on, N’dou tired and Brook upped his game, landing flush and appeared on course to stop him for the first time in his career. This is where N’dou used every ounce of his experience to hold on, holding the gloves of Brook, clinching and throwing wild shots to prove he wasn’t just a punchbag.

Brook won by huge margains, only losing one or two rounds on all cards, which was kind to N’dou. Brook needs to start making a statement in the division. A fight against American Mike Jones would be a super fight, but don’t hold your breathe. A fight with Paulie Malignaggi has been suggested, but I think Brook showed he is above him with this win as Paulie struggled to beat N’dou twice. I would target Zaveck although he seems keen in only fighting in Slovenia at the moment. Another excellent target would be Alfonso Gomez, possibly on the undercard in America. Or perhaps Timothy Bradley wants to test the waters of welterweight again, I think that would be a great match.

Next fight was Matthew Macklin against proven world champion Felix Sturm. Before discussing the fight, the set up in Germany was very unprofessional. Macklin came to the ring and was forced to wait almost ten minutes for Felix Sturm. They had a camera on the big screen showing Sturm pacing up and down, before a long, silly entrance video. Pure madness. The only saving grace was Felix Sturm wasn’t dancing Naseem Hameed style in his locker room.

Macklin started very quickly and as a fan, I was worried about the pace he set after his loss to Jamie Moore. There was no questioning he won the first four rounds and on my personal scorecard, had him 7-2 up (one round a draw) after eight, which meant Sturm needed a knockdown to win. Sturm came back into the fight, landing eye catching uppercuts, but threw in singles. Macklin would come back with combinations that was so eye catching, but the work rate was phenomenal. By the end, I had it 115-113 to Macklin and feel very sorry for him. A home town decision? Perhaps. It depends what you like from a fighter, but scores of 116-112 to Sturm were stupid. Watch the first eight rounds and you can’t tell me Sturm won half of them and convince me. Macklin will come again, possibly against Australian Daniel Geale. I think he needs a fight against a proven operator before stepping up for world title, just as a confidence builder, because a loss so close as that can knock you when you feel you won.

Alexander took a hard fight on his comeback against Matthysse after losing a technical decision to Timothy Bradley. I haven’t been able to watch the fight, but it is on my to do list. Matthysse scored a knockdown in the fourth, which was definitely a flash knockdown after a straight right caught Alexander nicely as he was on the move. After reading people’s thoughts on the fight, it seems Matthysse could have been awarded the decision, which was a split decision in Alexander’s favour. A disputed decision for Alexander is the last thing he need after a loss to Bradley and poor win over Kotelnik, some in which felt Kotelnik won. He needs to find an opponent who can propel him back up to a world title. Possibly winner/loser of Khan/Judah would be a good target, or even a fight against prospect Mike Alvarado would be a good fight.

As for Matthysse, he has proved himself to be a big puncher in this division, although he isn’t the best of boxer’s. Sound familiar? Thought so. Let’s match them up. Lucas Matthysse vs Marcos Rene Maidana in a battle of Argentina. Sounds like fun to me!