Macklin in talks re Julio Cesar Chavez Vegas bout

MATTHEW Macklin is in talks with former middleweight World champion and Andy Lee defeater Julio Cesar Chavez Jr about a possible showdown.

‘Mack The Knife’ returned to winning ways stopping Sandor Micsko inside two rounds Birmingham earlier this month and had hoped to challenge world middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs in August.

However, when disucssing Jacobs’ and a possible East Coast World title fight with Macklin’s promoter Eddie Hearn the American’s advisor Al Haymon through Chavez’s name into the mix.

The former European, Irish and British champion is open to what would be a high profile and paying bout, but expressed concerns about what weight the clash would be at.

Of late Chavez has been accused of lacking the discipline when it comes to making weight, indeed his last fight was a light heavyweight reverse to Andrzej Fonfara.

World title hopeful Macklin remains open to the clash, but claims he wouldn’t rise to super middleweight to take it.

“‘There is no news on the Jacobs front but there is now talk of fighting Chavez Jr,” said the Tipperary Tornado.

‘But that fight would have to be up near 168lbs and I would only really be 168lbs on the night of the fight whereas he would put on 20lbs overnight. At middleweight I would love that fight but I don’t really want to venture up to super-middleweight so we will see what happens.

‘I would consider giving him a few pounds. Listen if he could meet me halfway, maybe at 164lbs, I would go for it but to go up to 168lbs, I’ve giving a lot of an advantage away.

‘I think it would be a physical fight as well but let’s see what happens in the next few days.’

On the Fonfara loss, Macklin added: ‘I didn’t see the fight but I know Fonfara is a decent fighter. He had Adonis Stevenson down and he’s a tough, big light-heavyweight.

‘I thought it was a strange fight for Chavez to take anyway considering it was his most successful stint as world middleweight champion.

‘Obviously he came a cropper and now he needs to rebuild and he’s looking for a smaller guy, someone like me who is a decent-size middleweight but not massive.

‘I’m open to anything, it is a big fight and if he is still killing himself to get down to super-middleweight then actually what is an advantage in size becomes a disadvantage.

‘When they come back to us this week we will see what they say and weigh things up.’

Speaking about the possible Vegas clash and Macklin’s future Eddie Hearn said,

‘There have been a lot of discussions about Chavez-Macklin, I love the fight, but the problem is the weight.

‘It’s a lot of money and it’s tempting but we’re not sure. It’s all about money at the end of the day and you saw Ricky Burns fight Figueroa, who was probably two or three pounds outside where he would liked to have been.

‘Jacobs was a fight was a fight he really wants, there is Peter Quillin and Andy Lee too but when a Chavez fight comes up you have to think about it.’