Matthew Macklin wins in spectacular fashion against Joachim Alcine in Vegas

Irish boxer entered the ring clad in green to the sound of the “Rocky Road to Dublin”

Middleweight Matthew Macklin (29-4, 20 KOs) reinforced his reputation as one of the best fighters in the 160-pound division with a clinical first round stoppage of Joachim Alcine (33-3-1, 19 KOs) at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas last Saturday night.

Macklin, who was fighting on the Sergio Martinez/Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. undercard that was televised on HBO PPV, entered the ring clad in green to the sound of the “Rocky Road to Dublin” blaring in the background. Waiting for him was Alcine, the 36-year-old who had only tasted defeat twice in a 13-year professional career.

The first half of the opening round was tentative, with both men moving and feinting, and Macklin the only one willing to engage.  The Irishman from Birmingham soon started to throw more shots as Alcine strolled around the ring.  The Haitian-Canadian paid for his reticence to fight when Macklin caught him with a crushing overhand right that sent him to the canvas.

Alcine took an eight-count from referee Jay Nady but was in serious trouble as Macklin went to finish the fight.  More Macklin pressure punctuated by a left hook had Alcine down again shortly after.

When the pair resumed fighting, Macklin forced Alcine into the corner and rained down a succession of punches -- including two devastating body shots -- that convinced Nady to intervene and call a halt to the fight.

"It's great to literally bounce back with a bang.  I felt very sharp in the changing room before hand and had a great camp for the fight so I went in there nice and relaxed and once I dropped him with the first right hand I could see he was gone and it was only a matter of time before I'd get the stoppage," said Macklin.

On Monday, the Irish Voice caught up with Mack the Knife's manager, Brian Peters, to get his reaction on what was a great weekend for team Macklin.

"Mathew is such an exciting fighter and is genuine in and out of the ring," said Peters, who went on to say that Macklin now has a lot of options in front of him.

In the main event, Martinez schooled Chavez for 11 rounds but was nearly knocked out in the final stanza.  The Argentinean was able to survive and won a lopsided unanimous decision.  However, it was revealed after the fight that Martinez broke his left arm in the fourth round.

"I think my stock has also risen as outside of the last round Martinez pretty much gave Chavez a boxing lesson while for nine rounds in my fight with Martinez there was very little between us and I was actually ahead on the scorecards at that point," said Macklin.

The late resurgence from Chavez immediately sparked talk of a rematch. Peters told the Voice that the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas was mentioned as the possible venue. "There is talk that Martinez and Chavez could rematch there and Macklin/Geale could be on the undercard,” said Peters.

The Geale in question is the IBF and WBA super champion Daniel Geale, who recently defeated Felix Sturm in Germany and who was in attendance at the fight.

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Nster.com