Matthew Macklin - First week of preparations for Sergio Martinez

Each to his own, it hurt my ears though

 

Noticed Macklin puts on more of an Irish accent for the Americans as well.

 

I believe it's competing at that level on a regular basis, sparring better opponents week in week out helps plus Barker's stamina has always been questionable plus long layoff and only one fight back didn't help him.

It's mental thing as well mate, many British athlete's seem to struggle at world level. There's some who break the mold but many compete well at that level but when push comes to shove they can't win against the Elite in major comps/fights/matches.

 

does he, i thought he had a birmingham accent

 

I think the reason Barker didn't step it up another couple of gears was that he didn't feel the reward would outweigh the risk. He was trying to keep it as tight as possible, seemed to me that he was a tad reluctant to open up a bit more due to the fact he didn't want to present Maravilla with any opportunities. Which is understandable I think, we saw how the fight ended, if he was able to stop Barker when he was keeping things that tight, who's to say the stoppage wouldn't have come sooner had Barker thrown caution to the wind a bit more?

Macklin needs to fight smarter and be a bit more judicious in his work in my opinion, and not repeat what he did against Sturm by wasting an abundance of punches and tiring himself out. He fought very well, but at the same time didn't do himself many favours in the long run for the first half of the fight. He went to the body very impressively, didn't come forwards in straight lines and was wearing Sturm down. It wasn't particularly special but it was effective, winning him rounds and kept Sturm guessing. But for me a high proportion of his workrate was a bit pointless, firing volleys of punches straight into Sturm's gloves/arms with no real variation at times, wasting energy in the process. As a result he restricted his own success over the latter half of the bout, his upper body movement dwindled, he was always there to be hit and there was a lot less zip behind his shots. It enabled Sturm to get back into, and win the fight(he didn't in my opinion, though I think scoring it 7-5 or 6-5-1 to Sturm is fully understandable).

I'd love it if he did win, but Martinez really is a stylistic kryptonite for him. Martinez will relish punching with him and will do so from a variety of angles. If he can keep it tight and try not to present many openings, be aggressive but not reckless and somewhat minimalist with his workrate(in comparison to previous outings, anyways) I think he could do well. I definitely don't think he's in as perilous position as others do, but I think he'll always be coming out second-best in exchanges and they'll take their toll sometime late in the fight. Martinez really has an awful style for him.

 

I hate to say it, but I see Macklin getting stopped in the mid to late rounds...

 

hmmm, maybe they dont want it enough then and are just fighting for the money and not necasserily the glory.

 

He does usually, but in that presser I can definitely hear an added Irish twang. Not saying its a bad thing, but its there nonetheless

 

Style wise this is hell for Macklin and if he goes in the ring trying to do what he did against Sturm he`ll get KO`d mid to late rds. But i`m hoping Matt has taken in what he saw when commentating the Barker fight. Barker layed a semi blue print on how to beat Martinez, but just didnt have the gas and strength to do so, Matts gotta use that guard well but be consistant with the jab and straights constantly and not waste his energy and stamina. The question is can Matt adjust his style?

 

The dubliners, Luke Kelly version pisses all over that one Slap

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfngKaaDVro[/ame]

 

I have the same fears, I just can't seem him out warring Martinez.

His style, his past performances, his speech at the press conference and his hiring of Buddy McGirt all indicate that he's going in there planning to throw the kitchen sink at Martinez.

Could we be looking at a great tactical ploy and will he come out and box Martinez and step it up the latter rounds..?

Highly unlikely in my opinion but I reckon it would be his best chance of winning the fight.