Matthew Macklin looked to be nearly knocking on the door of the world stage before his wildly brutal loss to Jamie Moore 2006 in which after ten rounds of fierce two-way combat, Macklin basically shattered under one hard punch that brought all the collected punishment to a point of critical mass. That fight, to me looked to be the type that could put dents in a young fighter that might never be pounded out. Macklin took a year to recover from that fight before getting back into the ring--which I believe was the right decision--and has rattled off a string of reasonably impressive wins in the time since. Despite that streak. It seems to me Macklin is a step behind the pace he used to be able to set and seems reluctant to pull the trigger for fear of falling headlong into a brawl. Did the fight with Moore ruin Macklin? Or was he simply never going to grow into a world class fighter, anyhow? Additionally, Jamie Moore took buckets of bloody punishment in that win over Macklin, yet his skills and energies have surged in an excellent unbeaten streak ever since. What do you make of that fact? Where do you see Macklin headed? How about Jamie Moore?
he looks fleshy but comfortable at 160. would pick him to beat Duddy that's for sure, and probably Sturm, but being brave ain't gonna get him anywhere with Abraham or Pavlik IMO.
I'm not sure that is did take that much out of him. He looked as good against Elcock as he did to me in the fights pre Moore against weaker opposition. The fight against Moore was a one off and he fought like he was possessed, if he hadn't he would have got KO'd earlier. I don't think he's going to be able to replicate that level of intensity for most fights unless his career is a short one, but I don't think that he's lost too much of what he had before Moore.
One thing that always struck me as weird about Macklin is the amount of trainers he's gone through. But anybody born and raised in Birmingham who can play hurling for Tipperary must have something special about them.