Matthew Macklin suffered a third round knockout last night in his middleweight world title bout with Gennady Golovkin. Macklin was fighting for Golovkin’s WBO and IBA titles but was felled by a powerful shot to the body early in the third round. The win moves Golovkin’s record to 27 wins, with 24 stoppages. It is now over 5 years since the Kazakh fighter went the distance in a fight.
It is Macklin’s third world title fight defeat and his fifth in a total of 34 professional bouts. He has now lost three of his past four fights. Macklin’s previous world title bouts – against Felix Sturm and Sergio Martinez – had seen the Birmingham born fighter acquit himself admirably and push his supposedly more illustrious opponents to their limits. The Sturm encounter in particular was something of a robbery of Macklin, who lost on a controversial points decision in front of a partisan home crowd backing his German opponent. Those performances ensured Macklin's reputation remained healthy, and kept him at the world title level of the middleweight division.
Last night’s loss, however, was a comprehensive defeat. Macklin acknowledged as much this morning, when he tweeted his praise for Golovkin, calling the Kazakh fighter: “by far the best I've ever been in a ring with. It'll be a while before anyone beats him at 160! Don't see anyone out there beating him at the minute. Congratulations to him, he’s the better fighter n a great champion. Good luck to him in the rest of his career!”
The fight. GGG is by far the best I've ever been in a ring with. It'll be a while before anyone beats him at 160! Don't see anyone out there
— matthew macklin (@mattmacklin) June 30, 2013
Beating him at the minute. Congratulations to him, hes the better fighter n a great champion. Good luck to him in the rest of his career!
— matthew macklin (@mattmacklin) June 30, 2013
Golvkin never let Macklin settle, and his power overwhelmed the challenger. "He never really let me get started," Macklin told ESPN. "It was a great shot he landed. I tip my hat to him. He's a great champion. He has plenty of clubbing, solid power, and you can feel the weight of every punch he throws."
