Former three time world title challenger Matthew Macklin (30-5, 20 KOs) will be in action this Saturday night in an 8 round stay busy fight against 35-year-old Jose Yebes (12-4-1, 5 KOs) on the undercard of the Arthur Abraham vs. Paul Smith fight card at the Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, in Germany.
Macklin, 32, hasn’t fought since struggling to defeat little known Lamar Russ last December in an impressive performance. Macklin looked really poor in that fight, and he was fortunate that Russ didn’t have the stamina to fight hard for more than 5 rounds.
Macklin, #9 WBC, #11 WBA, #13 WBO, missed out on a good money fight against Daniel Geale last May. Macklin missed out on another fight this one against Jorge Sebastien Heiland that was supposed to have taken place on August 29th. That fight was wiped out after Macklin’s trainer Jaime Moore was shot.
Macklin needs a solid victory on Saturday night to keep him moving forward. He’ll likely be fighting in Ireland in 2015. Andy Lee would be the perfect opponent for Macklin because both guys are fringe contenders, and both of them need an important win to raise their status in the division. Lee fought for a world title in 2012 but was stopped by former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Macklin has fought for world titles against Felix Sturm, Sergio Martinez and Gennady Golovkin. Macklin gave Sergio Martinez all he could handle before getting knocked out. Macklin fought well enough to deserve a decision against Sturm, but he instead ended up losing a 12 round decision in their fight in Germany.
Macklin’s best bet to try and win a world title is for him to go IBF middleweight champion Sam Soliman or the winner of the Demetrius Andrade vs. Matt Korobov fight for the WBO title.
For his next fight, Macklin needs to step it up a little in terms of the competition. Facing the likes of Russ and Yebes just makes Macklin look like he doesn’t have the confidence to face the contender in the middleweight division.
