By Oli Smith
For a long time, Matthew Macklin has come close to being the man of the British Middleweights. He had a stellar amateur career, and it has taken eight long years for him to step up through the gears and compete at European level. Having been fighting at Middleweight for nearly three years, nothing has come easy for the Birmingham boxer. A 10 round knockout loss at the hands of Jamie Moore in 2006 had been a major stumbling block at 154lbs and signified the end of Macklin’s Light Middleweight aspirations. Having demolished former World title challenger Wayne Elcock in three rounds, incidentally a job that took former Middleweight boss Arthur Abraham five rounds to complete. But on Friday, Macklin faced his toughest challenge to date, for the European Middleweight title - the former holder of this belt, and one time conqueror of Sebastian Sylvester, title contender Amin Asikainen 26-2 (17KO’s).
Macklin-Asikainen also represents Ricky Hatton’s first serious foray into promotion, as such it would take place in Hatton’s back yard, the Velodrome in Manchester. Asikainen is no stranger to travelling and winning and posed a real threat to Macklin 24-2 (17KO’s), who has yet to fight against legitimate world class fighters.