Magic Night For Macklin As He Scoops First Title
By Aidan Begley

The Harp sends its congratulations to Matt Macklin on his great win

Birmingham-based boxer Matt Macklin got the birthday present that he had always wanted – his first professional title – when he knocked out Michael Monaghan to claim the Irish middleweight crown at the National Stadium in Dublin last month, to get the celebrations for his 23rd birthday off to the perfect start.
Macklin hadn’t fought in a year, but didn’t show any signs of ring rust as he set about his task dutifully, managing to claim the opening rounds with some shuddering hooks to Monaghan’s ribcage.
The onslaught continued and half way through the fifth round, Macklin’s body shots took their toll on Monaghan and his opponent dropped to the floor and didn’t manage to return to his feet, giving Macklin his thirteenth career win, and his ninth by knock-out.
“I’ve been out of the ring for eleven months but I was in good shape. I’ve had good sparring so it was that bit easier to shake off the rust. I was a little over eager early on but once I settled down and used a little more educated pressure I was able to get him out of there,” said Macklin.
Although Mackin hadn’t been fighting, he has been training hard in the same gym as Ricky Hatton in Billy Graham’s Champ Camp in Manchester, and working with fighters of the calibre of Hatton has been helping the 23-year-old along in his progression as a boxer.
“Ricky’s so fast and he’s got the biggest fight of his life soon so you’ve got to be sharp in sparring just to keep up with him, which has been good for me.”
His title victory was watched by scores of family and friends
who made the journey over the
Irish Sea to the fight from Birmingham, and also from his father’s native county of Roscommon and his mother’s native Tipperary, to which he paid tribute to after the fight.
“It’s great that they had a chance to see me fight over here. It’s handy for my kit as well that Roscommon and Tipperary both have blue and yellow as their county colours,” he jokes, adding that he’s already looking forward to coming back to Dublin to defend his title.
“I’ve spoken to Brian Peters and he doesn’t want it to be a one off. I’m fully behind getting pro boxing going in Ireland,” admits Macklin.