Macklin to face Martinez

(Original article from Sky Sports News) - http://www1.skysports.com/boxing/news/12183/7424061/Macklin-to-face-Martinez


Matthew Macklin will attempt to dethrone middleweight king Sergio Martinez on March 17 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The former European champion will be back in action for the first time since a losing a controversial split decision to WBA champion Felix Sturm last summer.

But the Birmingham fighter, who has Irish heritage, will get a second chance at a world title when he takes on Argentine superstar Martinez on St Patrick's Day.

Martinez is widely regarded as the third best pound-for-pound fighter in the world behind only Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, and Macklin (28-3) is relishing the occasion.

"The press conference was absolutely packed out today, I couldn't believe it," Macklin said.

"It was huge. It brings it home how big this is. Felix Sturm is a big deal over in Germany but this was a different level.

"Coming face-to-face with Martinez, he comes across as a nice, humble, friendly kind of guy and you can't read too much into it.

Focus

"Actions speak louder than words anyway so you can't gauge whether he's nervous or not, or whether he's looking past me, just from that.

"I don't think he is under-estimating me, though, from what he was saying today. Over Christmas there was the talk of him fighting Julio Cesar Chavez Jr but now this fight is on with me, he's focused on it.

"Obviously he thinks he's going to win but I think he knows he is in a real fight."

Although Macklin ultimately fell short in his first bid for world title glory against Sturm, many observers felt he had done enough to beat the German fighter in Cologne.
He was immediately praised by Martinez's team - led by promoter Lou DiBella, who has since signed Macklin to a promotional deal.

That arrangement helped the fight with 36-year-old stablemate Martinez (48-2-2) materialise, especially after the South American southpaw saw a lucrative clash with Mexico's Chavez Jr fall by the wayside.

Irish middleweight Andy Lee also features on the New York bill, while Northern Irish super-bantamweight Carl Frampton could also be in action.


Regards

Steffan

Martinez would be stupid to underestimate Mackilin after Barker. A similair opponent in terms of level so we should see if Martinez is fading or not.

I got full faith that the Mack can pull this one off if he puts in the type of performance he did against Sturm

He has a great chance, his aggressive style should sit well with the judges. I don't understand why anybody that wants to win a fight goes to Germany.

Seems like no one can drag that coward Chavez Jr to the ring to fight Martinez.

I think Martinez'll stop Macklin late on by consistently catching him coming in with well-timed counters and wearing him down, I like either guy so whatever outcome I'm just looking forward to it! If Mack loses it sets up a "best of the rest" Barker fight anyway, one which we nearly got to see in 2010 that I was looking forward to.

Macklin is better than Barker imo I think he has a good chance against Martinez who did not look great against Barker. Macklin is very unlucky not to be champ now imo he was robbed in Germany by Sturm so I think he deserves this shot against Martinez even if he loses he should get a good payday. One thing that worries me i that Macklin is very easy to hit coming forward and Martinez is a quality counter puncher so Macklin knows he is going to get his chin tested I reckon his best chance is to win on workrate that is why he beat Sturm who did not throw enough punches.

Personally think Macklin fought the fight of his life against Sturm and STILL came up short. Once Sturm was able to get that little half step back (or conversely once Macklin stopped getting in close and putting his head on Sturm's chest) he was able to pick Macklin of with a series of punches and macklin had no answer. Macklin will have to fight better than he did against Sturm against a man who hits a helluva lot harder. If/when Martinez gets the range, Macklin will be in a lot of trouble.

Macklin fights with his heart instead of his head and will ultimately come up short unless Martinez has suddenly become shopworn or simply cannot get 'up' for yet another fight witha perceived "Euro-level" fighter

Macklin will not beat Martinez, I think some people are getting excited and forgetting about levels here. Martinez is at least a few above Macklin.

Too fast and too skilled.

Signs are that Marti is getting old. Still should have too much for Macklin. It will be competitive and not the one sided beat down some think.

azania wrote:Signs are that Marti is getting old. Still should have too much for Macklin. It will be competitive and not the one sided beat down some think.

I think you are right Barker showed that Martinez is on the slide now he should probably think about retiring soon before he gets washed up but he is looking for a big payday before he retires. Macklin is better than Barker imo so I think this fight will be alot closer than what many people think maybe it could be a split decision or a close points win.

Waingro wrote:

azania wrote:Signs are that Marti is getting old. Still should have too much for Macklin. It will be competitive and not the one sided beat down some think.

I think you are right Barker showed that Martinez is on the slide now he should probably think about retiring soon before he gets washed up but he is looking for a big payday before he retires. Macklin is better than Barker imo so I think this fight will be alot closer than what many people think maybe it could be a split decision or a close points win.

Marti will KO him. But it will be competitive whilst it lasts. Macklin is a pressure fighter made for Marti. A decent but not great fighter.

macklin will get knocked out after using all his energy to be competitive for two thirds of the fight. i dont rate his performance against sturm as highly as some on here do but there can be no denying he was spent towards the end. he doesnt want to be leaving himself open to martinez in the later rounds as he has with other opponents

Lance wrote:macklin will get knocked out after using all his energy to be competitive for two thirds of the fight. i dont rate his performance against sturm as highly as some on here do but there can be no denying he was spent towards the end. he doesnt want to be leaving himself open to martinez in the later rounds as he has with other opponents

With the amount of punches he threw, I'm not surprised he was spent.

az and lance are right on this one imo.

styles and fights etc... the barker fight isnt much of a pointer. Barker was rangy, awkward, well organised defensively and not overly ambitious... in footballing parlance he 'parked the bus'. Macklin will come looking for Martinez. It will make for a good fight while it lasts and i expect it to be competitive early - but martinez will pick him off possibly early but definitely when his workrate drops as sturm did, and he hits a good deal harder than sturm. Hope i'm wrong, i like macklin.

I get a feeling Macklin is going to have a painful night, don't think Martinez is on the slide, he injured his left arm in the Barker fight and think this was the reason he didn't impress as much, he was fighting with only one arm for a fair majority of the fight.

Also think that Macklin has a come forward aggressive style which suits him much more than Barker who was cagey and made things difficult frustrating for Martinez. One sided beat down for me, feel a bit sorry for Martinez just can't get the fights he deserves.

Macklin will be ripped up IMO. Martinez is a harder puncher, has faster hands and throwea from better angles than sturm does. Matinez was flawed vs barker as barker threw only jabs and played defensively. Macklin will come forwar onto martinez bombs. Styles make fights and Martinez should be able to get Ito positions to punish Matthew. I don't think any of the 3 Brits had the power to become champions. Sturm was hit a lot by Macklin and Murray but wasn't ever really hurt. Barker has always been feather fisted and doesn't have the output or stamina to get TKO's

I mean you never know, I like both fighters so a bit sad to see them fight each other, but it's always possible that Martinez has an off night and Macklin has that gutsy style to make it very hard for an opponent when he isn't on top of his game. Suprised if he has it competetive in the middle rounds though.

Don't see Macklin pulling this one off,great performance against Sturm but Martinez is a different kettle of fish.
Martinez is well capable of ending this early if he catches Macklin .

Speed difference is going to be key here, Martinez has very fast hands and can bang as well. If he attacks Martinez like he did Sturm it could be an early night.

Barker fought very defensively against Martinez, the fact is Martinez still won by KO. Macklin better not be reckless like he was against Sturm, because if he gets hit even half as much he is going to be in big trouble.

Going to be a tough ask for Macklin and Sergio is definitely not on the slide.

If Macklin doesn't play it smart and box smart and use smart pressure, Sergio is going to catch him with counters all night long. I think Macklin will show a lot of heart but I think he'll get stopped either way.

But after this fight and he's lost, it would be good to see a best of the rest with Murray, Macklin and Barker all facing each other. Would be good for them and the British public to see. But I hear Barker could be getting another title shot but I'm not too sure what's going on with that right now.

Bob Arum knows what he's doing with Chavez Jnr. He don't want no parts of Sergio because Sergio would destroy this kid. Typical Arum.

I've done a little preview for the fight on my blogsite, so feel free to check it out and leave comments. (link is below)

http://thesweetscienceuk.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/macklin-set-for-st-patricks-day-title-shot/

Maravilla will batter Macklin. Maravilla to win by KO inside 6 rounds.

Only seen highlights of Macklin-Sturm but i absolutely love the way Macklin puts his close quarter battle shots together.
Martinez is a very clever fighter though and can see it being stopped late on by Macklin being cut up.
Hope i'm wrong though.

I see it going like Brandon Rios vs John Murray, with Mack being Murray. I pray to god that I'm wrong because Matt is a sound bloke.

And he can only improve with the quality sparring he's getting in NY.