By Scott Gilfoid: After all these years middleweight contender Matthew Macklin (28-3, 19 KO’s) will finally get his chance at the big time by being able to fight in the United States of America against the World’s best middleweight in WBC Diamond middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (47-2-2 27 KO’s) at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

This is the 29-year-old Macklin’s first fight in American and unfortunately it’s going to end badly for him with him either getting knocked out or beaten up and losing a lopsided 12 round decision to the more powerful and talented Martinez. Macklin, #3 WBC, #8 WBA, #10 WBO, already had a title shot against WBA World middleweight champion Felix Sturm last June but got tired after building and early lead and ended up losing by a 12 round decision.

It was a bummer for poor Macklin to get so close and then to end up failing when he jets couldn’t keep the pace he set out. I mean, I’ve seen fighters run out of gas before but never in such a pronounced way like Macklin did. It was incredibly weird the way he tuckered out. One moment he was throwing tons of punches with excellent power and then next moment he was still throwing tons of shots but it like with vapors instead of the rockets that he hard in the first four rounds. Macklin lost his power and looked like Gumby, just throwing shots with rubber arms. Sturm took over the fight and never looked back, dominating every round from the 5th on.

As much I feel sorry for Macklin because he’s going to get knocked out by Martinez next month, got to give th guy some credit for taking the fight with Martinez. He didn’t have to do it. With his #3 World Boxing Council ranking, Macklin would have sooner or later gotten a title shot against the WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in what would be a very winnable fight for Macklin. He chose instead to take on the best fighter in the division in Macklin instead of waiting around beating fodder opposition until he got a title shot against Chavez Jr. However, it’s too bad it’s going to end badly for Macklin because it would have made a great storyline for the guy to come to the United States and make good in his first attempt at the big time. Unfortunately, Macklin is going to get stomped in this fight and will have a long flight back to the UK to contemplate what his next move will be.