Macklin hopes people recall he always gave it his all

Matthew Macklin hopes fight fans will remember him as the warrior he was after he retired on Thursday morning.

‘Mack The Knife’ is unfortunate not to have put his name alongside the middleweight World champions having challenged for World honours three times. The Irish, British and European 160lbs champ was robbed against a prime Felix Sturm in Germany, before pushing Sergio Martinez, then a pound for pound fighter and eventually losing to the main man at the minute Genady Golovkin in a third title fight.

A world title was always the entertaining middleweight’s goal and was the reason he continued to fight in recent years, but he hopes to be remembered despite not achieving that goal.

The have a go and ever willing puncher, who was involved in a fight of the decade with Jamie Moore, wants people to recall the manner in which fought and took on challenges.

“I hope people will remember I gave it my all, never shied away from a challenge, took on the best and fought them in their prime,” he told Sky Sports.

“Win lose or draw I went out on my shield and put everything on the line.

Hit your own jackpot check out free slots

He may not have gone out at the top, but Macklin is happy he ended his career in a high profile domestic clash with fellow World title challenger Brian Rose.

“Rose was a proper fight,” he told Sky Sports.

“He’s not Golovkin or Martinez but for me it was the right fight for me to finally make the decision. I knew it was going to come and it was the right way to go out, with a win at least.

“It was the perfect platform, the perfect stage and I knew if I didn’t win that would be it – and even if I did win but struggle, that would be it.”

Macklin, a very respected pundit even before he retired and a noted boxing brain claims he knew very soon into the Rose clash it would be his last fight and he was determined to go out on a high.

“I needed a certain amount of pressure to get up but I knew about round five that it was over. I knew, but I wanted to make sure. And I wanted to celebrate a win.

“I knew it would be my last night in the ring and it was fun – and I can’t always say that.”