Thread: What a Night; Macklin vs Campas. With Pics n Vid

This Saturday 22nd of March, Matthew Macklin is faced with a new proposition. The third member of the active trinity of Irish Middleweights Macklin is set to face the vastly expierienced and battle hardened Luis Ramon Campas, better known as Yori Boy. Macklins own professional record of 20 wins and 2 losses pales in comparison to the 102 fights of the vastly expierienced Mexican.

Macklin, who will be headlining a bill promoted by top Irish promoter Brian Peters, is looking to win this fight emphatically. In doing so he would not only be solidifying his status as a class fighter, but also surging toward becoming a household name in the land of his ancestors. Having recently left the Phoenix Camp in Manchester, England (led by Billy Graham) Macklin has been taken under the wing of famed trainer Buddy McGirt. He expressed his pleasure at this xchange yesterday; "I feel I need to get back to using my boxing skills a bit more and I think Buddy is the perfect trainer for that. You only have to look at how he turned Arturo Gatti around from a brawler to a boxer to see the kind of infleunce he can have on a fighter."

In the past year we have seen fighters such as John Duddy take on expierienced fighters who's age has limited their fighting abilities in order to avail of their expierience. Macklin realises that this fight will provide him with an education on what it will take at the top level. "Campas will bring the best out in me. -He's been in with everyone. Fighting those sort of guys gives you the buzz you need to perform at your best." Macklins two sole losses, to Jamie Moore and Andrew Facey have been nearly erased from memory through his disposal of the durable Allessio Furlan in 7 rounds (3 quicker than John Duddy.) However, with a fighter like Campas the hyped young Macklin must proceed with caution.

At 36 Campas is past his best and with 11 losses now eked on his record he is not the formidable fighter he once was. What he does present is a rough tough fight for any fighter. In fighting Campas, Macklin is stepping into the ring with a fighter who has shared the ring with fighters such as Felix Trinidad, Oscar De la Hoya, John Duddy, Matt Vanda, Oba Carr and Daniel Santos. He has the type of career which spans generations and he has learned from each and every round. With 91 wins to his credit and 73 wins by early stoppage, Campas is a threat to the rising star of Macklin and must be dealt with due caution. A win would surely merit Macklin a wealth of new ideas and thoughts as well as a boost to his credability, but a loss could be devastating.

The fight will be held in Dublin's National Stadium this Saturday. Brian Peters has prepared an entertaining card which includes the exciting Cuban heavyweight Ismaikel Perez, the debut of popular Irish amateur Ian Timms and an array of potentially thrilling fights. This card is another step forward in the ressurgence of professional boxing in Ireland and one must assume that with the wealth of talent no presenting itself it's future is secure.

Read on to see how it turned out!