By Scott Gilfoid: Matthew Macklin (28-3, 19 KO’s) is doing the best he can to try and pump himself up for his March 17th clash against WBC Diamond middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KO’s) at Madison Square Garden, in New York. Macklin, 29, is convinced that the 37-year-old Martinez can be hurt and he sees himself as being the one that can hurt him.

Macklin told the BBC WM “He’s not unbeatable. I have the tools to beat him…No one’s a monster; he’s a man, and when he gets hit on the nose it’ll hurt…You can put it on him and he can be hit…The stage is set for me to go and beat Sergio Martinez and I’ll just explode overnight.”

I hate to say it but I think Macklin sounds delusional. To be sure, Martinez can be hurt I suppose but not by a 3 round fighter like Macklin and it takes a lot more power to hurt him than what Macklin has. I think Macklin is kidding himself if he believes he’s got the tools to beat Martinez, because he doesn’t. Macklin is slow, not a big puncher and tends to wear down after the 3rd round. His only chance of winning this fight is if he can blitz Martinez early in the first three rounds and just go all out and hope for the best. If Martinez goes to trade, maybe Macklin can land a lucky shot and score a knockout. But I see the chances of that happening are so remote that it’s not even worthy of discussion. The chances are just too low that Macklin is going to do anything other than get knocked out or take a pounding.

I believe there’s only one middleweight in the division that has a chance of beating Martinez and that’s Kelly Pavlik if he were to start early against Martinez to try and blast him out or wear him down.