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| January Edition 2005 |
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Marvellous
Macklin Set To Make His Mark
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| At only 22 years old, Matt Macklin has the Boxing world at his feet. After progressing through the ranks of schoolboy and amateur Boxing having taken up the sport at the tender age of 10, Macklin – now a fully fledged member of the professional boxers club – is looking to earn himself his first pro title during 2005, which would be the perfect way to show that the talent he showed as a youngster is now coming to fruition. And the Solihull-based light middleweight would love to defend his crown right here in his home city of Birmingham. “I haven’t fought professionally in Brum yet so it would be great to be the top fight on the card and show people what I can do,” said Macklin. The son of parents from Roscommon and Tipperary, Macklin was introduced to the sport at a young age when he would watch Boxing on television. It was while watching the likes of Tyson and Bruno plying their trade during the 80’s, along with listening to his dad’s stories about some of the great boxers of our time, such as Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier, that he decided to turn his hand – literally – to Boxing. “I wanted to give it a go and so I went to the Small Heath Boxing Club to start training. Almost straight away I realised that I was good at boxing as I was picking up whatever the trainers were telling me instantly and they would mention to me how talented they thought that I was,” recalls Macklin. From here, the young Macklin learnt the skills needed for boxing and eventually donned the vest and headguard of schoolboy boxing to make the first steps in his dream of one day becoming a professional boxer. During this time, he won the National Association of Boys Clubs finals twice, won silver in the European Junior ABA’s, reached the finals of the Schoolboy championships twice, and represented England in two schoolboy bouts against Scotland and South Africa. By the time he was 19, Macklin had been making waves in the amateur boxing world after rising through the ranks, and he was planning on fighting in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, when things then changed – for the better. Macklin explains: “I won the Senior ABA championships, and around this time, I was getting advice from Robert and Spencer McCracken about becoming a professional. I had been thinking about it and was in discussions with a few people about turning pro. After a while, boxing promoter Frank Warren offered me a deal to fight under his management. I accepted and my career has progressed from here.” As a raw professional, Macklin’s career couldn’t have got off to a better start as he won his first nine fights in a row under his trainers Paddy Lynch, Tommy Lynch and Dan Arguson. It was after these fights that it was decided that he would box Andrew Facey for the vacant English light-middleweight title, a battle he controversially lost on points. “When I fought Facey, it was a really close fight and I think that I should have won it. Some of the rounds were very tight to call but I felt that I was landing the better punches, but I was gutted to lose. “Looking back on it, I think that I trained too hard and I was a bit burnt-out from that. I also put on too much weight between the weigh-in and the fight itself so I felt a little bit sluggish. “However, I learnt a lot from the fight and it makes me more hungry for success and I plan to win many more titles in the years to come, so one defeat in the big picture of my career isn’t going to mean a lot. But a ten-round title fight showed people just how much I’d progressed as a boxer,” says Macklin. This progression is continuing to evolve as Macklin is now training in Manchester under the watchful eye of Billy Graham, where he fights alongside the likes of Ricky Hatton and Michael Gomez, which Macklin feels has been a definite advantage for him. “I moved to Manchester because Frank Warren though that I needed to be in a busy gym with other professionals – people who are full time and do this for a living. It is a fantastic gym and in the time I’ve been there, I’ve developed massively as a boxer on a variety of aspects, such as hand movement, footwork, fitness, diet and I feel physically stronger.” So what does the year ahead hold for Macklin? “At the moment I’m just coming back from a broken hand which I did sparring with Ricky Hatton, so I’m looking to actually start punching with it in the next two weeks. “Then if everything goes well, I’d be looking at trying to win a title next year. I will hopefully have an eight-round fight in March time, then I may fight for either the British or WBU title in the summer, which if I win, I would then defend during the second half of the year. If that happens, then Frank Warren said that he’d like me defend it in Birmingham.” Although still young, Macklin has already shown that he is a potential champion and this talent will earn him his first title sooner rather than later, which his record of 12 victories from 13 fights, eight by knockout, is a testament to. With promoter Frank Warren at the helm, Macklin’s career is being guided along nicely and with this help, he is set to make the boxing world sit up and take notice of him during the coming years. |
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