Matthew Macklin Out Of Khoren Gevor Fight; May Get Straight Shot At Felix Sturm

By James Slater: Promoter Ricky Hatton has confirmed that middleweight contender Matthew Macklin’s WBA final eliminator fight with Khoren Gevor, set as it was for the Khan-McCloskey under-card in Manchester on April 16th, is off.

According to RTE Sport, Hatton has confirmed the cancellation and contractual reasons have been given as the reason for Macklin’s decision to walk away from the fight. It is now understood that Macklin, unbeaten as a middleweight and highly ranked in a number of organisations, will look to go straight into a title shot against either WBA champ Felix Sturm or IBF ruler Sebastian Sylvester.

Now promoted by the powerful Golden Boy group, Macklin, who has more than paid his dues and earned his shot, is willing to travel to Germany for either fight. The Gevor fight was, in my opinion anyway, the best-looking match-up on the April Pay-Per-View card. It is unlikely Gevor will fight another opponent on the card.

The good news, though, is the fact that Rendall “2-Tone” Munroe, the former WBC super-bantamweight title challenger, will fight a TBA on the show. Munroe, 21-2(9) recently left promoter Frank Maloney to join Hatton Promotions.

As big a star as WBA 140-pound champ Amir Khan is, it’s likely the change to the card will mean a significantly smaller TV audience pays to tune in on Sky Box Office, and as for the live tickets, Hatton announced a couple of weeks ago that they were shifting by the thousand.

Macklin, rarely in a dull fight, would have to be made a slightly odds-on favourite to beat either Sturm or Sylvester, or at the very least attract even odds at the bookies. It’s a shame, though, that fans will not now get the chance to see the 28-year-old contender with the 28-2(19) record in action in Manchester. It was in the city of Manchester, in September of 2006, when “Mack The Knife” played his part in the British classic that is Macklin Vs. Jamie Moore!

Macklin last fought in December of last year, when he retained his European title with a points win over Ruben Varon.