Maybe age has caught up to me a little bit. – MATTHEW MACKLIN
DUBLIN, IRELAND – Jorge Sebastian Heiland’s right hook may have knocked Matthew Macklin into retirement. Before his countrymen at the 3Arena, Macklin found himself hopelessly overmatched against a younger, stronger and frankly smarter fighter and took a methodical beating over 10 rounds before being dispatched in his own corner.
Macklin looked poised in the first two rounds by popping the jab and keeping Heiland off-balance with straight rights to the body. But starting in the third, Heiland’s constant aggression allowed him to get inside and pound the body with hooks. Macklin returned fire with his own counter shots upstairs, but by the fifth you started seeing who was getting the worst of the exchanges.
By the seventh, youth had taken over. The 32-year-old, battle-weary Macklin was seeking reprieve on the ropes and got clusters of punishing hooks for his trouble. His isolated right hands were brushed off by Heiland and the battering continued unabated. Macklin tried the counter right one too many times and got met with a southpaw hook right on the button that sealed the outcome.
Before last night, Jorge Sebastian Heiland wasn’t viewed as a top middleweight despite his #4 ranking by the WBC. The only name recognizable to most fans on his record was Sebastian Zbik, who out-pointed him with relative ease back in 2010. With the Macklin bout being a title eliminator, he’s poised to get a mandatory match against Miguel Cotto.
10TH ROUND KO
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MACKLIN TALKS POSSIBLE RETIREMENT AFTER KO DEFEAT
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FULL FIGHT
