Macklin KO’s Fury’s Garden Dream

He may have yet to officially secure a shot at the best middleweight in the World Sergio Martinez, but Irish middleweight Matthew Macklin has beaten Tyson Fury to the punch and secured Madison Square for March 17.

Irish heavyweight title hopeful, Fury’s promoter, Mick Hennessy had claimed he had booked the famous New York boxing venue for St Patrick’s Day for his large larger than life fighter. However the all but signed Macklin/Martinez March 17 fight has KO’d Fury’s Garden dream for now.

Both Macklin and DiBella suggested Hennessy was more interested in securing publicity than MSG for his fighter.

“I’d heard Mick was trying to get that date for Tyson but I never thought it was going to happen,” Macklin told the Daily Mirror.

“Me and Martinez is a much bigger fight than Tyson. I’ve also fought for the world title and been European ­champion. Tyson was never going to sell many tickets in New York because it wouldn’t have been for a world title and it wouldn’t have been against a big name. It was probably just a bit of publicity by Mick.”

Macklin’s New York-based promoter Lou DiBella claims Fury fighting at the Garden was always a non-starter because Hennessy isn’t licensed in the US.

“Mick Hennessy had put a hold on the date initially, but Mick’s not licensed as a promoter there,” he said. “In New York, you can’t hold a venue without a promoter’s licence and I had put in for the date with the State Athletic Commission, which Mick had neglected to do. “Therefore, I asserted my right to book the Garden.”