Macklin - Martinez: Final Quotes

Matthew Macklin:
“It's been a long road to get here, I've won everything along the way, the Irish middleweight title, the British middleweight title, the European Championship twice and should have added the WBA World Championship to that only to get stiffed out in Germany to Felix Sturm on a horrible decision. However I'm here now and sometimes things happen for a reason. Sergio's the lineal middleweight champion and the real world champion, he's universally regarded as the number one in the division and if you want to be the best you have to beat the best.

“I'm very honored to be fighting at Madison Square Garden, such an iconic venue and I'll be even prouder to win my first world title here. Bringing in World class sparring and setting up training camp in downtown Manhattan for 10 weeks doesn't come cheap so I'm very appreciate and grateful to my sponsors Goodfellas Pizza, Green Isle, Martin Donnelly and Sierra Communications for their kind and generous support.

Since I started boxing on St. Patrick's Day in 1994 at the Grand Hotel in Birmingham I always believed that I could go all the way in this sport. On Saturday it will be 18 years to that day when I step into the ring against Sergio Martinez who is not only the best middleweight in the world but one of the best pound for pound fighters in the sport. With regard to Sergio there really is nothing bad to say and it's not my style to trash talk anyway but every dog has his day and he is 37 years old now and on Saturday night he's going to feel every single day of those 37 years and there will be a new middleweight champion.

Sergio Martinez:
"I dedicate this fight to my family and victims of domestic violence. It's a great, great honor to fight at Madison Square Garden and a life time dream. It makes me quite emotional.“

The card, which will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing® in the U.S. and on Sky Sports 1 in Ireland and the UK, is entitled, "THE REAL Middleweight Championship - Get Your Irish Up", and features Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez (48-2-2, 27KO's) defending his middleweight crown against Ireland's Matthew "Mack the Knife" Macklin (28-3, 19KO's). The card is promoted by DiBella Entertainment and will be televised live on HBO beginning 10PM ET/7PM PT and starting from midnight on Sky Sports 1.

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time.EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios♔, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved.

Matthew Macklin Training Diary‏

With less than 1 week to go to his mega fight with World Middleweight Champ, Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez at Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick's Day Matthew Macklin has updated his website with part 2 of his training diary: http://matthewmacklin.ie/training-diary-part-2/

The card which will be aired live on HBO's "World Championship Boxing is entitled, "THE REAL Middleweight Championship - Get Your Irish Up", features Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez (48-2-2, 27KO's) defending his middleweight crown against Ireland's Matthew "Mack the Knife" Macklin (28-3, 19KO's). The card is promoted by DiBella Entertainment and will be shown live on HBO beginning 10PM ET/7PM PT.

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time.EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios♔, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved.

MATTHEW MACKLIN vs. SERGIO "MARAVILLA" MARTINEZ on Saturday, March 17 - St. Patrick's Day at The Theater at Madison Square Garden

The card which will be aired live on HBO's "World Championship Boxing is entitled, "THE REAL Middleweight Championship - Get Your Irish Up", features Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez (48-2-2, 27KO's) defending his middleweight crown against Ireland's Matthew "Mack the Knife" Macklin (28-3, 19KO's). The card is promoted by DiBella Entertainment and will be shown live on HBO beginning 10PM ET/7PM PT.

MATTHEW MACKLIN: I've had a great camp, sparring has been terrific and most of the hard work has been done at this point. The next few weeks now are just about fine tuning and peaking for fight night. It's been great working with Buddy again. He's a very knowledgeable boxing guy so it's great to soak that up. I'm ready for war and whatever happens in that ring. No matter if it goes one round or twelve, I don't believe Martinez is going to be able to cope with the intensity and burning desire that I will bring into that ring with me at Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick's Day.

BUDDY MCGIRT: Matthew is in great shape for this fight. I've worked with him for the Yori Boy Campas fight a few years back so I've been aware for a long time just how good he is. We're not going to shout or boast about doing this or that. Matthew's just going to go in there and let his fists do the talking. I must say though that I am very confident that he is going to shock an awful lot of people in this fight.

LAR CORBETT: It's been a great experience to spend a few days with Matthew and see his preparations up close and personal. Myself and Eoin are very grateful to Brian Peters (Macklin co-promoter) and Martin Donnelly (Macklin Sponsor) for the opportunity to come over. Matthew is training like a demon for this fight and the level of effort and dedication he puts into his boxing has to be seen to be believed. Matthew has always been a great supporter of Tipperary Hurling over the years, through thick and thin, so we felt it was only fair that we return that support. There is huge interest in this fight back in Tipperary. I know there are loads of people traveling over to New York for the fight but for the people not traveling over, they will be glued to the television and the whole country of Ireland is behind him.

EOIN KELLY: I've known Matthew since we played hurling together as kids and it's great to see him living his dream now on the big stage. The hype in the US for the fight is phenomenal. There are big billboards in Times Square and huge media interest in the fight, but Matthew seems to take it all in stride. We came over to show our support to him because it's an absolutely massive night, not just for Matthew but for all of Ireland to have someone competing at that level, fighting a guy considered to be up there with the likes of Mayweather and Pacquiao on St. Patrick's Day at Madison Square Garden.

On hand to show their support for Macklin were Irish Hurling stars Eion Kelly (right of Macklin in the Photo) and Lar Corbett (left of Macklin in the photo), who had made the trip over from Ireland earlier this week and have been touring the city with Macklin to rally together the heavy Irish community throughout the New York area to come out and support Macklin on March 17.

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time.EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios♔, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved.

MARTINEZ PREPARED FOR BARKER - SAYS BARKER A MAN, CHAVEZ A POLLO‏

The #1 middleweight in the world, and top three pound-for-pound fighter, Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez (47-2-2, 26KO's) is preparing for "Dazzling" Darren Barker (23-0, 14KO's) feverishly, respecting his foe's amateur pedigree and undefeated professional record and putting the final touches on another hard training camp with trainer Pablo Sarmiento and top sparring in Oxnard, CA. Martinez will be putting his WBC Middleweight Diamond belt and Ring championship on the line against the European Champion Barker, on Saturday, October 1st, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. The show, entitled "Noche de 'Maravilla': Martinez vs. Barker" is being presented by DiBella Entertainment in association with Matchroom Sport, and Caesars Atlantic City, and is sponsored by Corona. The long awaited rematch between Andy Lee and Brian Vera will open the telecast. The show will be aired live on HBO's World Championship Boxing®, beginning at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT.

"I have been training very hard and am expecting a tough fight out of Barker on October 1st," said Martinez. "Barker is coming here to the States undefeated and he intends to leave that way. I must be in top shape, both physically and mentally, to prevent that from happening. The fact that Barker is willing to step up and put his undefeated record on the line shows you that he has a lot of heart and that he is a true warrior, which isn't the case for all fighters."

Martinez went onto further comment on the current situation in the middleweight division, and lack of opponents willing to step up to face him, including current WBC belt holder, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

"I would love nothing more than to fight Chavez and take back sole possession of my WBC belt. Chavez is the one who has been afraid and continues to avoid the fight. He also seems to be an expert at pulling out of fights. If he can defeat Peter Manfredo, Chavez will fight me like the man his father was, or I will fight a worthier challenger for the WBC Middleweight belt that is rightfully mine."

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time.EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios♔, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved.