Macklin Mulls Retirement, Will Decide By January

By Edward Chaykovsky

Veteran Matthew Macklin (31-6), 32-years-old, is seriously considering the possibility of retirement after Saturday's unexpected knockout loss to Argentinian Jorge Sebastian Heiland at the 3Arena in Dublin. The fight was a WBC middleweight eliminator and Macklin was heavily favored to win, but he was dominated and blasted hard in the tenth round.

Because of the loss, Macklin even believes that a fight with Andy Lee, who faces Matt Korobov for the WBO title on December 13, is unlikely to happen at this point. He plans to give himself until January to make a final decision regarding his career.

"I don't want to rush into any decision but I think if that was a couple of years ago, there was no way he would have beaten me," he told RTÉ Sport. "Maybe it's the long career, tough fights catching up. I don't know. I'll have to speak to my trainer and a few close friends but it [retirement] is definitely something I'll have to consider now.

"At 32 now, losing to a guy like that, that I don't feel would have been able to live with me a couple of years ago, you do have to ask yourself... I always said the day I lose to someone I wouldn't have lost to a couple of years previous, that I'd walk away and that would be it for me. But I don't want to make any rushed decisions. I'll analyse it properly in the days and weeks to come but it's definitely something I'll be considering."