By Scott Gilfoid: Middleweight Andy Lee believes that Ireland’s Matthew Macklin (28-3, 19 KO’s) has a decent chance of pulling off an upset against WBC Diamond middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KO’s) on March 17th at the Madison Square Garden, in New York, New York.
Lee told eastsideboxing.com’s On the Ropes Boxing Radio Program “Matthew Macklin can box as well. He’s not just a fighter. He can box, and I think if Matthew boxes a bit more than he fights, he could give Sergio some trouble.”
I disagree with Lee about Macklin being able to box Martinez. Macklin never tries to box his opponents. His entire game depends on his ability to run over his opponents with his limited power. He’s got some power, but not the kind of power needed for him to beat the better fighters in the division like Martinez. Most of Macklin’s KOs has come against 2nd tier fodder.
Against first level guys, Macklin isn’t a dangerous puncher and has to win by grueling 12 round decisions for the most part. You can’t the slugging instinct out of Macklin’s game without crippling him as a fighter because he’s not fast, doesn’t have much of a jab, is easy to hit and isn’t exactly light on his feet. You take away the slugging aspect from Maclin’s game and you’ve got a mediocre second tier fighter facing Martinez on March 17th. Under those conditions, I wouldn’t give Macklin more than three or four rounds at best under the heavy fire from Martinez. Heck, Macklin might as well go down in a blaze of glory by coming out firing on all eight cylinders looking to score a knockout like he usually does. If he fights the same way he did in his loss against Felx Sturm, Macklin will get torpedoed early but at least he’ll go out on a brave note.
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