The fight between Matthew Macklin and Jorge Sebastian Heiland due to take place on August 30 has been rescheduled for November 15. The bout will take place in the 3 Arena, Dublin and is for the WBC International Middleweight title and acts as an official world title eliminator. The fight was originally cancelled following Macklin’s then-lead trainer Jamie Moore getting shot twice in the legs in an incident in Marbella.
A fortnight ago in Germany, Macklin had his first fight of 2014 with a victory over Jose Yebes on the undercard of Abraham-Smith. Macklin returned to his winning ways by out-pointing the Spaniard in an 8 round majority win.
For Macklin, the previous cancellation has been a blessing in disguise as it has allowed him to get back into a competitive fight to dust off some ring rust. It has also allowed Macklin to work with former mentor Joe Gallagher, who has replaced the injured Moore.
A win against Heiland can open up a list of possible world-title fights for Macklin. For example Miguel Cotto is the current WBC Middleweight Champion and this fight is an official WBC World title eliminator. A win against Heiland will be a huge step forward for Macklin who wants the Cotto fight.
Gennady Golovkin the WBA and IBO World Middleweight Champion is defending his title against Marco Antonio Rubio this weekend which is also for the interim WBC Middleweight title. This means the winner of Golovkin-Rubio will become Cotto’s mandatory.
However, if rumours are to be believed then Cotto plans to give up his title so he can have a mega fight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. If this happens then this means Golovkin will become the full WBC Champion and this could lead to a rematch with Matthew Macklin.
Andy Lee could also provide a title fight for Macklin. Lee is fighting for the vacant WBO Middleweight title against Matt Korobov in Las Vegas on December 13. If Andy Lee is victorious then a fight between him and Macklin would be in huge demand in Ireland and Britain. Both fighters have expressed the desire to fight each other in the past but a with a world-title on the line it could be the final push to make the fight happen.
Whatever happens for Matthew Macklin, he should get another world-title shot somewhere along the line, all he has to do is keep winning these title eliminators and his name will stay in the mix. Macklin already has had two world-title fights end in defeat. In 2013 Golovkin knocked him out in the third round and in 2011 he was outpointed by Felix Sturm. I feel like a rematch with “GGG” would be pointless for Macklin, he was decisively beaten before by Golovkin and I feel a rematch would end in a similar way.
Mathew Macklin at 32 still feels he can become world champion and this may be his last chance. Before any of this can become a reality he has to overcome Jorge Sebastian Heiland on November 15 and a dominating performance would do Macklin’s chances the world of good.
