Macklin thinks he’ll beat Sergio Martinez on 3/17

By Boxing News - 01/01/2012 - Comments

Image: Macklin thinks he'll beat Sergio Martinez on 3/17By Scott Gilfoid: No.3 ranked Ring Magazine middleweight contender Matthew Macklin (28-3, 19 KO’s) thinks former WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KO’s) showed some flaws in his last fight against challenger Darren Barker last October and Macklin thinks he’s the one that can expose these vulnerabilities when they meet up on March 17th at the Madison Square Garden in New York.

The fact that Macklin is even facing Martinez given Macklin’s recent loss to WBA Super World middleweight champion Felix Sturm last June is largely due to WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. getting out of a fight with Martinez to fight a lesser threat of Marcos Antonio Rubio in February. Chavez Jr. is the one that Martinez wanted to fight, not someone coming off of a loss like Macklin. To be sure, it’s a good thing to knock off top contenders in the division, especially when they’re ranked as high as Macklin is in the Ring Magazine rankings. However, in this case Macklin’s ranking is very questionable to the point where you just wonder who are the ones at Ring Magazine that make up the rankings? Macklin is a decent fighter but does anyone honestly think he deserves to be ranked above WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, who The Ring has ranked at number #10 or Dmitry Pirog at number #7. The Ring Magazine has Macklin ranked above Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (#5), Sebastian Zbik (#6) and Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam at #8. That right there makes me dismiss any all rankings by the Ring. Macklin arguably should be ranked near the bottom, not the top, and especially not above Golovkin. Macklin is a knockout waiting to happen if he were to ever tangle with Golovkin. Pathetic rankings if you ask me.

Anyway, here’s what Macklin had to say about a fight with Martinez in an interview at RingTV: “Martinez certainly showed some vulnerabilities and he certainly showed that he was hittable. He looked tired…on that performance, I think that I would have stopped him. If he came in like that against me, he certainly would not have heard the final bell…I still think that I will beat him.”

Look at that, another self-marketing fighter from the UK talking himself up. Let’s look at the reality of the situation: Macklin fought well for the first four rounds against Sturm last June but completely ran out of gas in the second half of the fight and took a beating. He didn’t deserve to win and the judges got it right by giving the victory to Sturm. Macklin didn’t get ripped off like he and his loyal British fans think he did. Macklin lost because he was shooting blanks in the second half of the fight without any power. He was the weaker fighter against a non-puncher. So what does that say about Macklin’s chances against Martinez? He has no chance. He’s going to get knocked out by Martinez and there’s not whole lot he can do to change all that. My advice would be to run because if he tries to punch with Martinez the same way that Macklin did against the light hitting Sturm, Macklin will be knocked out cold within two or three rounds.

I see Macklin as a bottom feeder type in ranking. I don’t think he deserves anywhere close to No.3 by any of the sanctioning bodies, in particular with The Ring, which is supposed to be the most respected of the ranking bodies. I think my wisdom will bear out when Martinez whips Macklin like a naughty schoolboy on March 17th. I just hope the sanctioning bodies fix their ranking after this. You can’t have guys that were already exposed still ranked in the top five. That’s silly.



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