Matthew Macklin

Matthew Macklin
Macklin 2008
Statistics
Nickname(s)	Tipperary Tornado Mack the Knife The Roscommon Rock
Rated at	Middleweight Light middleweight
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Reach	72 in (183 cm)
Nationality	British Irish
Born	14 May 1982 Birmingham, England
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	41
Wins	35
Wins by KO	22
Losses	6

Matthew Macklin (born 14 May 1982) is a British-Irish professional boxer. He is a three-time middleweight World title challenger, and is a former Irish, British and European middleweight champion.

Background

Macklin was born in Birmingham, England, and represents Britain^[1] and Ireland^[2] in the ring. He was born to two Irish parents, his father being from County Roscommon and his mother from County Tipperary. He is a duel citizen and travels on an Irish passport.^[3]

Macklin and his brother Seamus, also a boxer, spent entire summers and much of their youth in their mother's native county.^[3] It was there that he learned how to play one of Ireland's national sport's, hurling,^[4] in which he is still an avid supporter of Tipperary today.^[5] He became a talented player in his own right, and is a close friend of now retired hurler Eoin Kelly. Macklin attends the Poc fada and other GAA events when Tipperary are playing.^[4]

Following his education at the independent Solihull School, at the age of 18 and whilst studying law at Coventry University as an amateur boxer, Macklin won the 2001 national senior ABA welterweight title for the Small Heath Boxing Club by beating Justin Turley in the final.^[6]

Professional career

Debut fight

Macklin left the amateur ranks and turned professional in September 2001, winning his first fight at the Bellahouston Sports Centre, Glasgow, Scotland, in which Macklin beat previously undefeated Ram Singh from Wisbech in a first round knockout on a card which included Scottish fighters Scott Harrison, Alex Arthur and Willie Limond.^[7]

The Jamie Moore barnstormer

In September 2006, Macklin was involved in his highest profile fight when he was defeated in a fight of the year contender bout against Manchester's Jamie Moore for the British light middleweight title which took place at the George Carnell Leisure Centre, Davyhulme, Manchester, England. Macklin later confessed to having major problems trying to make the weight for the fight. It was one of the best action fights ever held in a British boxing ring and nearly won 2006 Fight of The Year.

Potential Duddy fight

There has been speculation of a potential Irish title fight against New York based Derry native John Duddy. In the summer of 2006 Macklin made a guest appearance in Dublin to hand over the Irish middleweight title to fellow stablemate Dubliner Jim Rock.

At post fight press conference John Duddy's then matchmaker Jim Borzell stated that if Macklin won "the European title then maybe you'll have something John wants." Macklin replied, "maybe I have something for him he doesn't want!".^[8]

In December 2009, Macklin moved closer to a world title shot with a points victory over Rafa Sosa Pintos at the National Stadium in Dublin. The fight never happened and Duddy retired in 2011.^[9]

European middleweight title

Macklin beat Finnish Super-fighter Amin Asikainen by brutal 1st round KO at the Manchester Velodrome, England on 25 September 2009 for the vacant European middleweight title.^[7]

Relinquishing and retaining the European middleweight title

Matthew Macklin was later forced to vacate his European title. However he would get in first for the fight for the vacant title. A fight against Englishman Darren Barker was arranged for 18 September 2010 on Frank Warren's Magnificent Seven bill on Sky Box Office. The fight would be a big step closer to a world title fight for both men however Barker was forced to pull out of the contest through injury only weeks before the fight. He was replaced with Georgian slugger Shalva Jomardashvili and won the fight via a technical knock out two seconds into the sixth round after shoma pulled out. Macklin regained his EBU title and stated after the fight he wanted to go on to fight for a world title next.

World title shots

Mathew fought WBA Middleweight champion Felix Sturm on 25 June 2011. The fight ended in a split decision win for Sturm.

On 17 March 2012 otherwise known as St. Patrick's Day. Matthew Macklin met WBC Diamond Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez in Madison Square Garden, New York City. Macklin would go on to lose that fight after his corner retired him on his stool after round 11, a round in which Macklin was dropped twice near the end by massive straight lefts from the southpaw Martinez after gaining a slight lead on the scorecards in the middle rounds. See Sergio Martinez vs. Matthew Macklin

Rebuilding

Coming off two consecutive losses in title fights, Macklin came back on 15 September 2012, he fought on HBO World Championship Boxing PPV on the undercard of the WBC World Middleweight Title fight between Mexico's then defending WBC Middleweight Champion Julio César Chávez, Jr. and Argentina's Lineal Middleweight Champion Sergio Martínez in the Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada. Macklin fought former Light-Middleweight world champion Joachim Alcine (33–2, 19 KO's) of Canada and won with a knockout in the first round. On 30 June 2013, he suffered another setback with a loss to Gennady Golovkin by KO in the 3rd round when Golovkin landed a brutal left hook to the liver.

Professional boxing record

Glossary: KO: Knockout , TKO: Technical knockout , UD: Unanimous decision , MD: Majority decision , SD: Split decision , PTS: Points decision , RTD: Referee technical decision

References

1. http://boxrec.com/boxer/76117
2. 25. Juni 2011 - Felix Sturm vs. Matthew Macklin (Lanxess Arena, Köln, Deutschland). YouTube. 17 July 2014.
3. "Matthew Macklin". MGM Marbella. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
4. "Four Roads' favourite son". Roscommon Herald. Retrieved 27 February 2008.
5. "‘He needs me more than I need him’ – Matthew Macklin on possible Andy Lee bout". The42. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
6. "Amateur game punching its weight". BBC. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
7. Boxrec. "Matthew Macklin". Boxrec Fighter Page. Retrieved 13 October 2006.
8. Rohan, Tomás (2006-06-07). "Stadium Snippets at the National Stadium, Dublin". Archived from the original on 2006-06-09. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
9. "Macklin earns points victory". RTÉ Sport. 5 December 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009.

External links

• Professional boxing record for Matthew Macklin from BoxRec