MATTHEW MACKLIN in VEGAS

Matthew Macklin checks in with a training diary after touching down in Las Vegas ahead of his Sin City debut when he takes on former World Champion Joachim Alcine at the Thomas & Mack Center on September 15^th. The bout is live on HBO Pay Per View in the US and Primetime Pay Per view in Ireland and the UK on an event headlined by the mouthwatering World title showdown between Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr.

After a long but very enjoyable training camp at my new gym in Marbella, Spain and a flight that seemed just as long (but not so enjoyable) I’m finally in Las Vegas and this time I’m definitely here on business and not pleasure!

I got here on Saturday and it’s always a buzz flying in to Vegas even if you are just coming for a holiday. I love the city and always have done since my first trip out here in 2001. Vegas really found it’s feet as the World’s boxing capital back in the 80′s and 90′s hosting so many big fights between the fab four of Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran and then became a regular home for the big Mike Tyson fights. As someone who grew up as a fan of the sport during that era it’s always been a dream of mine to fight here and finally after being a regular visitor to the city as a fight fan over the last 11 years I’m finally going to get to step between the ropes here myself when I take on Joachim Alcine.

The Sturm – Geale World title unification fight in Germany last weekend kicked off a massive couple of weeks for the Middleweight division and after touching down in Vegas on Saturday night I turned on my phone to the news that Felix’s luck finally ran out against Geale. I haven’t had an opportunity to watch the fight yet but a lot of people seemed to think that Sturm night have nicked it. I just wish the three judges on duty in Germany last weekend had been judging my fight with Felix last year and I could have gotten the result my performance deserved.

My manager Brian Peters was at the fight and with an immediate rematch being ruled out I guess Geale will now want to make an impact Stateside and that’s a fight I would relish. Obviously I have to deal with Joachim Alcine first and foremost but I know Brian will be speaking to my promoter Lou DiBella about the possibility of another big fight in New York with myself and Geale.

I didn’t get to see Gennady Golvkin’s win over Grzegorz Proksa either but by all accounts he looked very impressive so he is another great addition to what I think is now the most exciting division in boxing.

Obviously the Martinez – Chavez fight is intriguing as well and I know a good win over Alcine puts me right back in the mix for any of those fights so it’s exciting times. Alcine is a former World Champion and so this is fight I am taking very seriously. I’ve been on a pretty tough run of fights over my last four, starting off with Ruben Varon who I defended my European title against, then it was onto the Sturm fight in Germany, next up was Sergio Martinez in New York and now I have another proven world class opponent in Joachim Alcine. I’ve really enjoyed the fights and the buildups to them recently because you work all your life to get to this level and these are the kind of high profile challenges and occasions that you relish but I won’t be satisfied until I’ve wrapped a World title belt around my waist.

I’ve been known as something of a nomad when it comes to preparing for fights but hopefully now I’ve found a permanent base at my gym in Marbella (Macklin’s Gym Marbella). It’s great to have somewhere to literally call my own and I’ve really enjoyed the training camp there.

The gym will officially open at the end of this month but I need to take care of business here in Las Vegas first. It will be open to any boxers looking to come out for warm weather training camps but also to the local community in Marbella. Amir Khan dropped in to say hello last week and to show support for the local children’s charity Aspandem which will benefit from some of the upcoming events we are planning for the gym.