I'm a big fan of Sergio, but I must admit I know very little about Matthew Macklin. Can someone give me a rundown on this guy? Also, how do you guys feel about the "Ring Magazine" belt? Less prestigious than the corrupt alphabet titles? More prestigious?
Ring Magazine belt is far from what it used to be, but still much more important than the other titles. Macklin is a very solid fighter and will be a good test, for Sergio. Martinez by late stoppage, imo.
I felt he deserved the decision against Sturm, I scored the fight 115-113 to Macklin. He was never getting the decision in Germany though.
Macklin is an excellent boxer and got robbed against Felix Sturm bigtime, Macklin almost won every single round. to be honest I think Macklin can upset Martinez. the betting odds are crazy
WOw, Macklin definitely had Sturm's number in that fight. Fricking Germans... (Almost as bad as the Texans!) But I don't see a guy who can be Sergio. Macklin really brings it to the body, but he seems a little slow. I think Sergio will just dance around him, firing at will from the outside & winning every round. Then in the late rounds he'll find an opening on the tired Macklin, move in and take him out. This is, of course, based on only that one Macklin fight that I've now seen. Has Macklin ever shown real speed & defensive movement?
Macklin's performance against Sturm was one of his best, but speed and defense arn't his strongest assets. He's a real tough guy, but I think the way he usually fights plays into Martinez's hands - come forward fighter, open to the kind of counters Martinez likes to throw (Macklin took a decent amount of punches against Sturm). But it depends what kind of tactics Macklin brings into the ring.
I scored Macklin/Sturm 117-111 for Macklin. He's good and poses an interesting set of skills for Sergio to deal with.
The Undercard is more interesting, because Martinez will win easy. George-Rodriguez: FOTY!!!! Abdusalamov-Pettaway: Two strong Prospects.
I don't really see how the ring title has become less prestigious. Maybe to the minor boxing fans, but if you look at the fights to decide them in recent years like Pavlik-Martinez Froch-Ward etc you can't really complain that it's been handed on a plate to them.
Indeed. I'm especially stoked to see Abdusalamov, as he's sort of the (less skilled) reincarnation of Ernie Shavers.
Macklin is a very strong, solid middleweight. His toughest fight IMO was against Jamie Moore for the British title a while back, was a total war and can be found on YouTube I believe - Classic. Macklin can pose Martinez some big problems, especially if he's been working on his speed which I hear he has. Martinez looked pretty average against Barker in his last outing and I dont see what the hype is about him, P4P no. 3 my arse. I'll be rooting for Mack the Knife big time, hope he does it especially on Paddy's day. WAR MACKLIN!
I hope Macklin can do it but he needs to fight in a different way to the Sturm. His style is made to order for Martinez IMO If he stands in front of Martinez like he did against Sturm then I think it could end up looking like the Pacquiao vs Hatton fight.