Macklin outpunches Russ, wins by decision

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In the 1st televised bout on HBO, Matthew Macklin squared off against Lamar Russ. There was lots of activity for both fighters during the 1st few rounds, neither one really seemed to hurt the other, but there was a lot of solid shots as Russ used his jab well and Macklin tried to catch him with an uppercut coming in. A head butt in the 5th round, which left a little cut under Macklin’s right eye, seemed to wake the fighters up a bit as there was some good exchanged in that rounds as well as the 6th.

In the 9th round, Macklin hit Russ with a shot that seemed to be the 1st punch of the fight that hurt the opponent. In the 10th there was some showboating by both fighters to try to win some style points. All in all it was a solid fight in which both fighters stayed active and kept the fans pretty entertained for an opening bout on HBO. When it was all done, it went to the cards and Matthew Macklin won by unanimous decision, 96-94, 98-92, 97-93.