By Terence Dooley

Matthew Macklin battled through the aftermath of a chest infection to register a bruising points win over Madrid's Ruben Varon at the ECHO Arena, Liverpool last night in the first defence of his EBU middleweight title.  Macklin (160lb) hopes to fight consensus kingpin Sergio Martinez at some point; the Birmingham-born boxer is currently ranked at #6 by the WBO, 4th by the WBC and sixth in the latest Ring rankings yet he failed to sparkle in his maiden EBU defence. 

Macklin, however, has had a stop-start 2010, a broken nose helped keep him out of the ring for nine months and he was left dejected back in September when British rival Darren Barker had to withdraw from a proposed fight due to a hip injury – the 28-year-old feels that the struggle with Varon was a combination of a sluggish year, the pre-fight chest infection and the need for a breakthrough fight.

“I picked up a chest infection in the week but we didn't want to pull out with the [Wlad] Klitschko fight falling through and Frankie Gavin getting ill,” revealed Macklin when musing over his torrid night's work.  “I'd trained hard so I wanted to fight.  We'd done all the hard work so I knew I'd make the weight and we decided that we'd see how it went.”

Varon (159lb) contributed to a slow opening round yet the 31-year-old was trading freely with the defending champion by round four.  Indeed, Macklin induced the former WBO middleweight title challenger's ire by cheekily swinging a shot at Ruben after the Spaniard had touched gloves.  Varon took matters into his own fists, hitting Macklin in the groin, twice; he went low once again in round five and earned himself a point deduction in the process.

However, and to his credit, the former EBU-EU light-middleweight title holder continued to throw lefts to the body throughout the contest; Macklin opened up to the body himself after some good work with the jab late in the fifth but could not follow through on his big assaults. 

With his eyes swelling, his shots bouncing off the challenger and his tank emptying, the defending champion dug deep into his reserves of stamina to score points and take the crucial rounds; so often keen to utilise his offensive skills, Matthew managed to clinch whenever his output dipped and showed that he can use his boxing brain in the heat of battle.

Varon, though, was dangerous throughout, landing a series of left hands, punctuated by an uppercut to Macklin's cut right eye, in the final stanza.  Blood cascaded from the injury.  Forcing Matthew to grab hold.  A further respite came when “Mack The Knife's” gum shield slipped from his mouth; the Joe Gallagher-trained fighter used the interruption to regroup, fiddling his way to the final bell.

Scores of 116-113, 116-111 and 117-111 saw Macklin retain his EBU belt; I had it 116-111.  When chatting to me post-fight, Macklin looked like he had ran full speed into a brick wall, he revealed the extent to which his recent chest infection had impacted on his performance.

“You always think you're going to be OK and if things go smoothly you don't need to be having this conversation but I hurt him in the third or fourth round, went for the finish and just hit the wall, maybe the effects of the chest infection were still there,” he reiterated. 

“I remember Ricky Hatton saying he'd hit the wall against Juan Urango and I couldn't understand what he meant at the time but I understand it now.  It is weird, you feel fit going in but can't fight the fight you want.  I got hit by a few left uppercuts and the fight turned tough, it became a hard night's work.  They then felt that they were in the fight and the momentum swings one way and another.  Varon gave me a tough fight, full credit to him, but I felt that I wasn't at my best and was still a clear winner and I am still European champion. 

“Put me in there with people I have a genuine chance of losing against and you'll see me at my best.  It shouldn't happen but it could be a subconscious thing, I dropped my level of performance.  You don't have the same fear and the reflexes don't feel the same in this type of fight.  I'm sitting here with two black eyes but I can honestly say that he didn't hurt me. 

“When I'm in with known bangers like Amin Asikainen, I don't get hit because I react quicker.  I winded Varon, shook him and looked to put shots together but didn't feel that the gears were there, the guy was still there and you become conscious that you've got a twelve round fight.  You just have to get through the rounds.  I made hard work of it but it was a victory.”

Varon's efforts in the twelfth surprised everyone, including Macklin, who admitted that he was keen to protect his damaged right eye after taking a solid left uppercut, although he shook his head firmly when asked if he had been hurt by the shot.

“I got hit bad by a hard shot right on the cut,” insisted the 28-2 (9) fighter.  “What it was, he hit me right on the cut and it bled very badly, I couldn't see a thing and just wanted to get a hold of him and clear my vision so it looked like I was holding on because I'd been hurt. 

“I couldn't see through the blood but I'd had a good eleventh round to build on because I hadn't wanted to go into the twelfth looking for a big round, I put him in his place in round eleven.  I showed championship qualities in some rounds because I wasn't at my best but still put my shots together.  ”

Joe Gallagher reached a personal milestone during this win, the trainer is now the proud owner of a 41-0 fight winning streak; he had been keen to stress how tough a fight this would be when speaking to me earlier in the night; post-fight, Gallagher wiped his brow and gave praise to the challenger, who falls to 35-6 (16).

“We never underestimated Varon and always knew it would be a tough fight for Matthew.  Facebook is becoming a valuable tool and I could see from his page updates that he was training hard for this fight.  This was his big opportunity, he is a good fighter who has been twelve rounds with Felix Sturm,” stressed Gallagher.

“Macklin wanted to do a job tonight but couldn't use all his tools.  But just like a world class football team he ground a result out when it was tough.  A win is a win, Macklin is still European champion, no one wanted to fight him before but they will be queuing up now.

“This guy has obviously seen Matthew against Jamie Moore and was trying to walk Matthew onto shots.  You and I both know that Macklin is a really good, tough fighter, it will take more than one shot to get to him, you need an accumulation of shots – Varon was trying to catch him with a big left uppercut.”

A fight with Martinez now seems a distant dream for the British boxer, with some questioning whether Macklin has what it takes to attain and maintain at the top level.  Gallagher, though, believes that his man fights to the level of his opposition and would be a different proposition entirely if he had someone like Martinez in the opposite corner.

He added: “Everything happens for a reason, Matthew has done twelve rounds when below par so imagine what he'll be able to do when he is at his best and challenging for a world title, Matt fights at his best when he is up against it.

“You saw Macklin mature in a learning fight and using a different game plan when things got tough.  We hope to have him out early next year so we can keep him active.  Frank Warren is the best promoter in Europe – I'm sure he'll sort out something big for Macklin.  Macklin doesn't want easy fights, he knows this is a tough business and he's had a tough year with the nose injury but he knows what he has to do to get to the top.”

Gallagher's winning run includes five European, six British and one English title fight; Joe wants to add world titles contests to the streak; he is keen to see both Macklin and John Murray move into world class waters during 2011.  For now, though, he can reflect on a successful 2010.

“I saw Enzo Maccarinelli before and we had a laugh about it,” he said when asked how it felt to surpass Enzo Calzaghe's 40 fight winning run.  “We've gone 41-0 since June 2008 and this year has been an especially good year.  Forty one fights, twelve title fights: five European, six British and one English. 

“We've barely given up any rounds in that run until tonight.  Matt went into a tough one a bit below his best and kept the run going by digging out a result.  I've heard that Sky's panel have said some nice things about me and the run I've had, this is always nice, but it is even nicer when fellow pros like Barry McGuigan gives you and your fighters praise for an achievement like this.”

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