Lee-ve it for now- Macklin v Lee not an option at present

JUNE 28 Jonny Stapleton

Andy Lee claims Matthew Macklin’s disappointing WBA world title reverse has closed a potential world title avenue for the Limerick man.

The Kronk fighter was hoping to challenge his fellow Irish middleweight if managed to relieve Felix Sturm of the world title on Saturday night in what would have been a mouth watering all Ireland clash.

However the former European champion’s dubious German defeat put has put paid a domestic fight with world title ramifications for the time being at least.

The American based Southpaw, who is hopping to finally announce a Brian Vera rematch over the coming weeks, is confident Macklin will bounce back and believes the pair could still meet in the future.

“In losing Matthew’s stock rose, he can hold his head high and come again. If he’d have won it could have possibly set up a match between us but it wasn’t to be. Maybe in the future we will meet, but right now I’m hoping that my next fight will be confirmed in the next week or two and hopefully it’ll be Vera,” Lee told www.irish-boxing.com.

Lee was one of many from the fighting fraternity to claim Macklin was very unlucky to be at the wrong end of the decision.

The former Olympian, who is Wadimir Kitschko’s Austrian training base ahead of the world champs world title fight with David Haye, had Macklin ahead by two or three rounds but wasn’t surprised the judges gave it the other way.

“I watched the fight at the hotel in Austria, I was surrounded by Germans and them like me thought Matthew won the fight. I thought he had it by 2/3 rounds. Yes Sturm landed the cleaner more effective punches but they were too few to out do Matthews constant work rate. I know you have to do a lot to beat a champion in Germany but I thought he had done enough. When the judges took so long to announce the decision the more I felt they were going to give it to Sturm.”

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