Sergio Martinez of Argentina will be defending his WBC Diamond Middleweight title against Ireland’s Matthew Macklin at Madison Square Garden in New York City on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. Macklin, who has a record of 28-3 with 19 KOs, will be hoping for the luck of the Irish to be on his side as he attempts to take the crown form the southpaw Martinez who holds a record of 48-2 2 with 27 KOS.
The only real advantage the 29-year-old Macklin takes with him into this fight is his age as Martinez is now 37 years old. Both fighters are 5-foot-10 with Martinez having a 75-inch reach and Macklin a reach of 72 inches.. This will be Macklin’s second straight title shot. He lost a split decision to WBA Super World Middleweight Champion Felix Sturm of Germany back on June 25th in a fight many ringside observers thought he won. The scoring in that bout was 155-113 for Macklin and 116-112, 116-112 for Sturm.
But other than the Sturm fight, it’s hard for the average boxing fan to recognize any of Macklin’s opponents other than the possible exception of Yori Boy Campas, who Macklin beat on points over 10 rounds back in 2008 in Dublin.
There aren’t too many boxers willing to take on Martinez these days even at his advanced age. This is because he possesses exceptional power in his left hand, as witnessed in his spectacular second-round knockout of Paul Williams. This will be his fourth title defence and it could be his hardest. It all depends on how well the Irish challenger can take a punch. Macklin will go into the fight as a decided underdog, but doesn’t really have anything to lose.
He’s basically an unknown to most American boxing fans, but a good performance here could result in more big-money fights in American soil and TV. And of course if he happens to win he’ll have a new championship bout around his belt. Martinez is bound to have a rematch clause in the contract should he happen to lose.
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Martinez possesses some exceptional reflexes to go with his power and that’s what makes him such a tough customer to fight against. Macklin likes to be aggressive and apply the pressure and that could make this quite an entertaining fight. Martinez won’t have to look far to find his opponent since he’ll likely be right in front of him. Martinez doesn’t mind slugging it out either and that could be the difference in this fight. If Martinez was a boxer only, Macklin would stand a better chance.
However, Martinez seems to be perfectly happy to counterpunch and catch his opponents coming in. But once he has no choice other than to go toe-to-toe, that could be the downfall of Macklin due to Martinez’s speed, accuracy and power. Look for Martinez to take this fight and retain his title by stoppage anytime after the sixth round.
Martinez vs Macklin Betting Odds
Sportsbook 5dimes.com has the current odds of a Martinez win at -1100 and a Macklin victory at +700. The odds of it going over 9.5 rounds are -110 and going under 9.5 rounds also at -110. Visit 5Dimes.com now to bet on the fight and be sure to use 5Dimes marketing code AF0002879 if you are registering a new account.
Matthew Macklin betting • Sergio Martinez betting