Macklin suffers heartbreaking homecoming defeat
IT was meant to be the return of the Bernard Dunne era, but it was more Bernard Dunne versus Poonsawat than Dunne v Ricardo Cordoba as the old Point Theatre was stunned into silence watching their man suffer stoppage reverse.
Matthew Macklin’s world title hopes took a massive blow on Saturday night as the odds-on favourite was knocked out in the tenth round of his WBC middleweight eliminator against Argentina’s Jorge Sebastian Heiland in Dublin.
Macklin started well and set the tempo early on, but it was clear to see Heiland wasn’t going to be a push over.
He responded to all Macklin attacks early on and out worked the former three time world title challenger in the middle rounds.
Macklin began to look tired after the sixth, whilst Heiland continued to come on strong. In a bid to try and turn the bout around ‘Mack The Knife’ let some big shots go. He landed a big right hand in the ninth, but Heiland shook it off and marched forward.
It was all over soon after that though as Heiland pinned Macklin in the corner and a left-right hook combination sent the Irishman to the canvas and ended the contest.
Macklin’s hopes of securing a long-awaited world crown – he has lost three world title bouts – seem to be in tatters but he insisted he wouldn’t rush to decide his future, despite the disappointment of defeat.
