Irish born middleweight Matthew Macklin challenged current belt holder Sergio Martinez for his middleweight World Title but even with the pride of the 'fighting Irish' behind him, he didn't manage to take the crown from Martinez. Macklin was scoring evenly throughout the opening and mid-way points of the fight and in round 7 even landed a big right hook that sent Martinez to the canvas, even if just for a brief second, but it was enough for the referee to adminster the standing count. All this seemed to do though was anger Martinez even more and the next 5 rounds were a punishing time for Macklin as he was forced onto the back foot.

All is not lost so it seems for Macklin as his brave performance put him in good stead with many of the sport's big name promoters so chances are it won't be long before we see him back in further world title action.

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