[caption id="attachment_70171" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Matthew Macklin."]
It’s a date etched in the minds of many Irish boxing enthusiasts: St. Patrick’s Day, 1923. On that March 17 evening at Dublin’s La Scala Theatre, Mike McTigue, a County Clare native fighting out of New York City, pulled off the improbable by capturing the world light heavyweight title from the great Battling Siki after 20 grueling rounds.
As Ireland erupted in celebration, one ringsider wryly put the upset in perspective: “Siki’s manager was either the bravest man in the world or the dumbest.”
Fast-forward 89 years.
In another display of supreme confidence, Argentine Sergio Martinez [48-2-2, 27 KOs] puts his World Boxing Council [WBC] Diamond title on the line against Matthew Macklin, a Tipperary product, fighting out of New York, at Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick’s Day.
The show is promoted by DiBella Entertainment and will be televised live on HBO beginning 10 pm EST.
Other Irish fighters on the card include popular light heavyweight Seanie Monaghan [12-0, 8 KOs] in an eight-rounder with Eric Watkins [6-1]; heavyweight Thomas Hardwick [4-0, 2 KOs] against Blu DeLong [0-3]; Jersey light welterweight Danny McDermott [9-3, 4 KOs] versus Carl McNickles [7-3, 6 KOs] and middleweight Kevin Rooney Jr., [3-1, 1 KO] against Anthony Shuff [0-1].
The Macklin-Martinez main event is scheduled for 12 rounds and Macklin admits that he’s the underdog against a champion ranked among the top three pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
“But a live underdog,” he quickly adds. “I hope that Sergio underrates me. But I don’t think he will.”
Martinez dare not. And not only because of the massive lift the pro-Irish crowd expected to cram into the Garden’s 5,600-capacity Theatre is likely to give his 29 year-old challenger.
In Macklin [28-3, 19 KOs] he faces a challenger eight years younger, hungry and brimming with confidence after a brave effort against World Boxing Association [WBA] titlist Felix Sturm in Germany last June that by most accounts ended in robbery.
“I should be the WBA middleweight champion and this should be a unification fight,” Macklin told the Echo, ruing his hotly disputed split points loss to Sturm in Cologne.
“But titles don’t matter and everyone knows that Martinez is the best middleweight in the world and I think everyone acknowledges and agrees that within the 160-pound division, I’m probably the best challenger out there for him,” he added.
Still, he’s well aware that dethroning a superior boxer whose name is spoken in the same breath as Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will be no easy task.
“I can’t stand up and box with this guy,” Macklin concedes. “He’s quicker, he moves faster, he comes from awkward angles and he performs best when he has room, space and time to set you up.
“So,” the former hurler continues, “I’ll have to nullify those things. I’ll have to take away his room, take away his time, don’t give him space and make him fight three minutes of every round.
“I’ll make him fight, stay close [to him] and work the body. I’ve got to drag him into a dogfight.”
Amid everything else, Saturday also marks a special anniversary for Macklin: he made his amateur debut at age 11 on March 17, 1994.
SURE BUDDY
Macklin’s soft-spoken trainer James “Buddy” McGirt declared his charge fit and ready for Martinez.
“If Matthew follows the plan he wins the championship. That’s it. I don’t do much talking,” he said.
A two-time world titlist, McGirt, spent close to eight weeks in camp with Macklin with the sole purpose of adding the former Irish, British and European king [twice] to his list of world champions.
That venerable pantheon includes Antonio Tarver, Arturo Gatti, Leila Ali, Vernon Forest and Joel Casamayor, the Cuban remembered by Irish fans for denying Wayne McCullough a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.
ATLAS PREDICTION
ESPN boxing analyst Teddy Atlas, who has County Cavan roots on his late mother's side, believes Macklin’s youth and confidence from the Sturm fight will make it a competitive fight. But he expects Martinez’s superior technique and experience to be the difference down the strength.
“Macklin will be competitive enough [but] Martinez is a little better technically and a little sharper. It will most likely be a points decision with Martinez pulling away late,” said Atlas, the former trainer of such Celtic favorites as Barry McGuigan, the late Chris Reid and Jimmy McMahon.
