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British middleweight champion Matthew Macklin increased the hardware in his trophy cabinet by winning the European title last night at the Velodrome in Manchester, England.
The Birmingham based slugger went right to work in the first round, swapping punches with former titlist Amin Asikainen.
The Finn was soon down from a full-blooded Macklin left hook but beat the count to continue. It wasn’t long however, before Macklin slammed home a right that decked Asikainen again.
Showing great courage, Asikainen beat the count again but was judged in no condition to continue the bout at 2:34 of the first round.
Matthew Macklin gains the European middleweight title and improves to 25-2 (18), winning his eighth straight contest.
Asikainen, who held won the European crown in 2006 and made two successful defenses, loses for the second time over his last three appearances and now stands at 26-3 (17).
On the undercard, middleweight Cello Renda, 18-7-1 (11), put the first loss on the record of Sam Horton, 13-1 (2), via second round KO.
Welter Mark Thompson, 21-1 (13), stopped Gari Abajian, 10-7 (1), in the fifth while middleweight Martin Murray, 16-0 (6), crushed George Aduashvili, 10-6-1 (6), in the first frame.
