Matthew Macklin


Matthew Macklin is a British-Irish former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2016, and has since worked as a boxing manager and commentator. He challenged three times for middleweight world titles between 2011 and 2013, and held multiple regional championships at that weight: the Irish title from 2005 to 2006, the British title in 2009, and the European title from 2009 to 2011.

Early life

Macklin was born in Birmingham, England, to Irish parents, his father being from County Roscommon and his mother from County Tipperary. He is a dual citizen and travels on an Irish passport.
Macklin and his brother Seamus, also a boxer, spent entire summers and much of their youth in their mother's native county. It was there that he learned how to play one of Ireland's national sports, hurling, and he is still an avid supporter of Tipperary today. He became a talented player in his own right, and is a close friend of now retired hurler Eoin Kelly. Macklin attends the Poc fada and other GAA events when Tipperary are playing.
Following his education at the independent Solihull School, at the age of 18 and whilst studying law at Coventry University as an amateur boxer, Macklin won the 2001 national senior ABA welterweight title for the Small Heath Boxing Club by beating Justin Turley in the final.

Professional career

Debut fight

Macklin left the amateur ranks and turned professional in September 2001, winning his first fight at the Bellahouston Sports Centre, Glasgow, Scotland, against previously undefeated Ram Singh in a first-round knockout.

Macklin vs. Jamie Moore

In September 2006, Macklin was defeated by Jamie Moore for the British light middleweight title in a fight which took place at the George Carnell Leisure Centre, Davyhulme, Manchester, England.
In December 2009, Macklin moved closer to a world title shot with a points victory over Rafa Sosa Pintos at the National Stadium in Dublin.

European middleweight champion

Macklin beat Finnish Super-fighter Amin Asikainen by first round knockout at the Manchester Velodrome, England on 25 September 2009 for the vacant European middleweight title.
Macklin was later forced to vacate his European title. However, he would get in first for the fight for the vacant title. A fight against Englishman Darren Barker was arranged for 18 September 2010, on Frank Warren's Magnificent Seven bill on Sky Box Office. Barker was forced to pull out of the contest through injury and was replaced by Georgian boxer Shalva Jomardashvili. Macklin won the fight via a technical knock out in the sixth round.

World title challenges

Mathew fought WBA Middleweight champion Felix Sturm on 25 June 2011. The fight ended in a split decision win for Sturm.
On 17 March 2012, otherwise known as St. Patrick's Day, Macklin met WBC Diamond Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez at Madison Square Garden, New York City. Macklin would go on to lose after his corner retired him on his stool after round 11, a round in which Macklin was dropped twice by straight lefts from the southpaw Martinez. See Sergio Martinez vs. Matthew Macklin

Career rebuilding

Macklin came back on 15 September 2012, and fought on HBO World Championship Boxing PPV on the undercard of the WBC World Middleweight Title fight between Julio César Chávez, Jr. and Sergio Martínez in the Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada. Macklin fought former light-middleweight world champion Joachim Alcine of Canada and won with a technical knockout in the first round. On 30 June 2013, he suffered another setback with a loss to Gennady Golovkin by knockout in the third round when Golovkin landed a left hook to the liver.

Retirement

Follow a knockout loss to Argentine boxer Jorge Sebastian Heiland, Macklin took some time off from the sport. He set up the Macklin's Gym Marbella gym in Marbella, Spain, with Daniel Kinahan. Macklin returned the following year and took part in a couple of warm up fights, before dropping down a weight division to defeat Jason Welborn. He won by unanimous decision over 10 rounds in his home town of Birmingham. Macklin then defeated former world title challenger Brian Rose by a 12 round majority decision on the Anthony Joshua-Charles Martin undercard. Shortly after the Rose fight, Macklin announced his retirement in May 2016.
In 2017 Macklin announced that his partner Kinahan would be stepping back from boxing promotion due to bad publicity. The gym rebranded as MTK - Mack the Knife, as MGM Resorts International filed a trademark lawsuit over its use of the 'MGM' initials. MTK was bought out by external investors, with Matthew Macklin remaining on the board in an advisory capacity.
He became a pundit for Sky Sports.
In April 2022, Macklin was prevented from boarding a flight to the United States at a London airport because of links to Daniel Kinahan. He was travelling to Las Vegas to cover a fight between Shakur Stevenson and Óscar Valdez on 30 April.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
41Win35–6Brian RoseMD129 Apr 2016The O2 Arena, London, England
40Win34–6Jason WelbornUD1017 Oct 2015Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham, EnglandWon vacant WBC International light-middleweight title
39Win33–6Chris HerrmannKO1, 1:4428 Aug 2015H10 Andalucía Plaza, Marbella, Spain
38Win32–6Sandor MicskoKO2, 1:289 May 2015Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham, England
37Loss31–6Jorge Sebastian HeilandKO10, 0:4215 Nov 20143Arena, Dublin, IrelandFor WBC International middleweight title
36Win31–5Jose Yebes827 Sep 2014Kiel, Germany
35Win30–5Lamar RussUD107 Dec 2013Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US
34Loss29–5Gennady GolovkinKO3, 1:2229 Jun 2013Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USFor WBA and IBO middleweight titles
33Win29–4Joachim AlcineKO1, 2:3615 Sep 2012Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, US
32Loss28–4Sergio MartínezRTD11, 3:0017 Mar 2012The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USFor The Ring middleweight title
31Loss28–3Felix Sturm1225 Jun 2011Lanxess Arena, Cologne, GermanyFor WBA middleweight title
30Win28–2Ruben Varon1211 Dec 2010Echo Arena, Liverpool, EnglandRetained European middleweight title
29Win27–2Shalva JomardashviliRTD6, 0:0218 Sep 2010LG Arena, Birmingham, EnglandWon vacant European middleweight title
28Win26–2Rafael Sosa PintosPTS105 Dec 2009National Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
27Win25–2Amin AsikainenTKO1, 2:3425 Sep 2009Manchester Velodrome, Manchester, EnglandWon vacant European middleweight title
26Win24–2Wayne ElcockTKO3, 0:5914 Mar 2009Aston Villa Events Centre, Birmingham, EnglandWon British middleweight title
25Win23–2Geard AjetovićPTS1031 Oct 2008Aston Villa Leisure Centre, Birmingham, England
24Win22–2Francis ChekaPTS106 Sep 2008MEN Arena, Manchester, England
23Win21–2Yori Boy CampasPTS1022 Mar 2008National Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
22Win20–2Alessio FurlanTKO8, 1:2820 Oct 2007National Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
21Win19–2Darren RhodesKO4, 2:2525 Aug 2007Point Theatre, Dublin, Ireland
20Win18–2Anatoliy UdalovKO1, 2:2420 Jul 2007Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England
19Loss17–2Jamie MooreKO10, 1:2929 Sep 2006George H Carnall Leisure Centre, Manchester, EnglandFor British light-middleweight title
18Win17–1Marcin PiatkowskiTKO4, 2:171 Jun 2006Aston Villa Leisure Centre, Birmingham, England
17Win16–1Alexey ChirkovKO1, 2:4426 Nov 2005Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield, England
16Win15–1Anthony LittleTKO2, 2:2028 Oct 2005Alhambra Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
15Win14–1Leo LadautTKO3, 1:554 Aug 2005Borgata, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US
14Win13–1Michael MonaghanKO5, 1:2814 May 2005National Stadium, Dublin, IrelandWon vacant Irish middleweight title
13Win12–1Ojay AbrahamsPTS412 Jun 2004MEN Arena, Manchester, England
12Win11–1Scott DixonRTD5, 3:0024 Apr 2004Rivermead Leisure Centre, Reading, England
11Win10–1Dean WalkerKO1, 1:2521 Feb 2004National Ice Rink, Cardiff, Wales
10Loss9–1Andrew FaceyPTS106 Nov 2003Goresbrook Leisure Center, London, EnglandFor vacant English light-middleweight title
9Win9–0Paul DentonPTS624 May 2003York Hall, London, England
8Win8–0Ruslan YakupovPTS615 Feb 2003Wembley Conference Centre, London, England
7Win7–0Leonti VorontsukTKO5, 1:1128 Sep 2002MEN Arena, Manchester, England
6Win6–0Guy AltonTKO3, 1:201 Jun 2002MEN Arena, Manchester, England
5Win5–0Ilia SpasovKO3, 2:3520 Apr 2002International Arena, Cardiff, Wales
4Win4–0David Kirk411 Mar 2002Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland
3Win3–0Dmitri Protkunas2, 3:009 Feb 2002MEN Arena, Manchester, England
2Win2–0Cristian Hodorogea1, 1:3615 Dec 2001Wembley Conference Centre, London, England
1Win1–0Ram Singh1, 1:5217 Nov 2001Bellahouston Leisure Centre, Glasgow, Scotland