Matthew Macklin (29-4, 20 KO’s) has done an admirable job in losses to Felix Sturm and Sergio Martinez when he’s stepped it up a level but he’s failed to get the win. He fought both of them very tough but he came up short because he didn’t have quite enough talent to beat them.
In his last fight, Macklin defeated Joachim Alcine by a 1st round knockout last September in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, on June 29th, Macklin will be stepping it up to the 1st tier again in a fight against WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (26-0, 23 KO’s) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
It’s a question of whether Macklin will fail once again against a top quality opponent or will he finally be able to get a win and capture a world title for the first time.
There’s a lot to like about Macklin’s fighting style and talent, but it’s very hard to picture him being able to get past Golovkin in this fight because he’s got a lot more power and talent than Macklin. Golovkin can do a lot of things Macklin can’t do like fight on the inside and throw with major power.
As good as Macklin is, he never learned to fight in close and he looks uncomfortable when one of his opponents works his way to the inside against him. He looks like someone who is fighting for the first time when his opponents start throwing to the body.
It’s not say that Golovkin will go inside on him on June 29th but if he does, it’s going to be difficult for Macklin to win under those conditions because about the best you can hope for is that he ties Golovkin up or has the sense enough to try and move away to get to the outside before he runs into something big from Golovkin.
I see Macklin giving it a good try but coming up short and getting stopped in the 5th or 6th round after getting tagged by a big shot from Golovkin.