Watch Felix Sturm vs. Matthew Macklin Free Live Stream

Matthew Macklin’s focus is solely on beating Felix Sturm, but for boxing in these isles his challenge for the WBA middleweight title is the start of a fantastic double header.

Macklin is a fighter close to my heart. Though from Birmingham, Macklin is managed in Ireland and sees himself very much as part of the Irish fighting tradition.

If only.

Sturm has lost only twice, and the defeat to Oscar De La Hoya did not necessarily reflect the dynamic of the fight. Historically, Macklin has lacked stamina. You acquire big-fight stamina through years of constantly putting ¬yourself through the wringer, taking your body to the limit.

Not knowing who you are fighting, not having a defined career path through consistent ¬management is tough.

You have six months between fights, just ticking over, getting fed up, putting on weight etc.

And then when you take a fight, you might not be up for it. Sturm is not spectacular and Macklin knows this. WBA middleweight titlist Felix Sturm is favored as expected for today's fight against Matthew Macklin in Germany, and Kell Brook is an enormous favorite against veteran Lovemore N'dou in Sheffield, England. Sturm vs Macklin and Brook vs N'dou share the Sky Sports bill starting at 3:30 pm EDT, and Bad Left Hook will have live, round-by-round coverage of both fights.

Sturm vs Macklin

Macklin will be battling uphill in this fight as he's on the road in Cologne. In his career fighting in Germany, Sturm is 32-1-1, with his only loss coming via TKO-10 to Javier Castillejo in 2006.

Macklin has only truly fought abroad a couple of times, as all but two of his fights have been in the United Kingdom or Ireland. He was 2-0 in a pair of fights in the United States in 2005.