Macklin's Take - Boxing Podcast

This week me & Matt Macklin take a deep dive into another big fight, turning the clock back 13 years to December 2007 and the clash between Floyd Mayweather and Ricky Hatton. Two undefeated fighters, the build-up was like nothing we’d seen before involving a British fighter and fight week was the same as 1000s of Hatton fans invaded Las Vegas. Ringside that night calling the fight for the BBC was...

Ahead of Usyk vs Chisora at the weekend me and Matt talk to former WBC Cruiser champ Tony Bellew about what it was like to share the ring with the Ukrainian. And we also investigate the art of self-promotion, a key element in any boxer’s career and one that Tony was a master of. There was serious method behind his apparent madness and it was fascinating to have a look behind the curtain. Desire +...

With Usyk vs Chisora coming up at the weekend me and Matt are joined by David Haye, former unified Cruiserweight champ and WBA Heavyweight champ, now Del Boy’s manager and a man who knows exactly how to sell a fight! He told us exactly how Chisora is going to take the Ukrainian down and afterwards we took him on a little trip down memory lane to the night he beat Mormeck in Paris to scoop those Cr...

People have been asking for a while if we could do an episode on all aspects of boxing training so we thought it was about time we did. Sparring, drills, S&C, recovery, making weight, rehydration, we get into it all in depth and detail. And who better to get chapter and verse from than our good mate, former WBO Cruiserweight champion and fittest 40-year-old on the planet Enzo Maccarinelli. Enzo’s...

On this week’s bonus episode we look back at conversations we’ve had with world champions. There’s Carl Froch, the 3-time World Super Middleweight champion, Frankie Gavin, who is still the only Englishman to win a world amateur title and WBO Cruiserweight king Johnny Nelson. They’ve all achieved amazing things in boxing and it was fascinating to listen to what they had to say. Desire + CapitalRyan...

This week on Macklin’s Take me and Matt take a deep dive into one of our favourite areas: International amateur boxing. And we do it in the company of Paul Walmsley, who’s just hung up his GB pads after 21 years as a top international coach, and Stephen Smith, a former protégé of Paul’s and a highly decorated amateur fighter back in the day. It was great fun, there’s nothing like tales from the am...

This week for our bonus episode me and Matt look back at conversations we’ve had with fighters from the Emerald Isle. Ireland has long been a hotbed of boxing talent and has produced some great champions, amateur and pro, and here we feature 2004 Olympian and WBO Middleweight champion now trainer Andy Lee, 2008 Beijing silver medallist Kenny Egan, his old international amateur team mate now campai...

This week on Macklin’s Take myself, Matt Macklin and author Brian Doogan turn the clock back to 1987 and the Super Fight between Marvelous Marvin Hagler & Sugar Ray Leonard. It was a fight that will forever have a place in boxing folklore and for good reason. A fight that was years in the making between two men who pursued different career paths and who lived different lives. Hagler vs Leonard is...

This week’s bonus episode on Macklin’s Take sees us revisit conversations we’ve had in the past with trainers. We did a part one earlier in the year but we’ve had so many trainers on the podcast that there’s more than enough material to do ten of these probably! And trainers do love a chat, which is perfect for us. In this one we bring you excerpts from pods we’ve done with Stefy Bull, a man who’s...

This week on Macklin’s Take we welcome our first Olympic gold medallist in Luke Campbell. As an amateur Luke did it all and as a pro he’s come perilously close to winning a world title against the very best opposition in Jorge Linares and Vasiliy Lomachenko. There’s still time to land that elusive belt though; the Hull Lightweight has been through a lot in his career and whilst there have been som...

After our chat with Al Bernstein earlier in the week, Macklin’s Take brings you a bonus episode where we revisit some earlier conversations we’ve had with similar luminaries of boxing journalism. We start with the inimitable Thomas Hauser, a man who’s long been one of the finest fight scribes in the business, then merge into a discussion with another Hall of Famer in Steve Farhood who’s achieved g...

This week on Macklin’s Take myself and Matt Macklin are joined by Hall of Fame broadcaster Al Bernstein. In boxing, and in all sports, the media is always changing but one of the constants of the last 4 decades for all boxing fans have been the dulcet tones and informed, insightful analysis of a certain Mr Bernstein. He’s called many of the biggest fights we’ve seen and has stayed true to his prin...

This week on Macklin’s Take myself and Matt Macklin are joined by Frank Warren Frank doesn’t really need any introduction. A Boxing Hall of Fame promoter, he’s been at the top of the sport for decades and the driving force behind some of the biggest fights and most successful careers in British boxing. There have been ups and downs along the way but never a dull moment and it was an absolute pleas...

Boxers have all sorts of journeys and Conor Benn's has been a pretty unique one so far. He’s not the first son of a famous father to follow his Dad into the squared circle and he very likely won’t be the last. And although there are advantages to bearing a well-known surname, there are drawbacks too. People often have the idea that it’s all sweetness and light but nobody can do the fighting for yo...

This week on Macklin’s Take we’re doing something a little bit different. Top trainer Dave Coldwell joins me and Matt Macklin for an in-depth philosophical discussion. That’s right, the key questions of the sporting universe are addressed. Such as: Does natural talent really exist? What does it take to be a winner? Does sporting success equal happiness? Over the course of 63 minutes we do our best...

This week on Macklin’s Take me and Matt are joined by Natasha Jonas. We saw Tasha in the ring recently, headlining week 2 of Fight Camp, where she challenged WBC Super Featherweight champion Terri Harper and fought her way to a thrilling draw. It was her biggest night in professional boxing and a performance to be proud of so it was great to catch up with her and get her thoughts on it and on what...

This week on Macklin’s Take me and Matt are joined by Eddie Hearn to look back at what was an epic finale to Fight Camp and to discuss the very unique demands and pressures life as a boxing promoter places on a person. As he tells us, it’s not all private jets and ringside seats; success comes with a significant personal price tag in many, many ways. Desire + CapitalRyan and Jamie talking about pe...

This week on Macklin’s Take me and Matt are joined by top trainer Joe Gallagher to discuss the key role that psychological warfare or mind games can play in the build up to big fights. It’s something Joe pays a lot of attention to and he was happy to discuss what is a fine art, and one that can play a big part in elite level contests. Desire + CapitalRyan and Jamie talking about people talking abo...

This week me & Matt Macklin are joined by fighter and trainer duo Eric Donovan and Kenny Egan. Back in the day these two travelled the world together as amateurs boxing for Ireland and competing at European and World Championships and Olympic Games. You name it, one of them did it, and usually both. And after a few years apart the pair of them are back together. Eric’s 12-0 as a pro and on Friday...

This week me & Matt Macklin are joined by Adam Harper who on Friday night fights Anthony Fowler at Matchroom Square Gardens.  Adam’s got one of the best stories out there. 3 years ago me & Matt commentated on his Midlands Area title win. He followed it up by travelling to Australia to challenge for the Commonwealth title after chasing and getting the fight on Facebook. Then he came back home and w...

This week me and Matt make British podcast history and bring together two of the most agile boxing brains in the country. Do you remember that scene in Heat when DeNiro and Pacino come face to face for the first time? Well it’s exactly like that only with much less hair and much more nonsense. On one side of the table we have the Birmingham Scorsese, aka Jon Pegg, and opposite him the Cardiff Phil...

This week IBF Featherweight champion Josh Warrington joins me and Matt on our Make or Break series. Josh has had a fascinating career. There have been plenty of doubters, every step of the way, from his very first title fight when he travelled to Dudley to take on Chris Male for the vacant English title in 2012, to six years later when he landed his world title at a sold out Elland road, and he’s...

In this latest episode in our Make or Break series me & Matt are joined by former World title challenger and British and Commonwealth champion Derry Mathews Back in early 2012, after 10 years and 37 fights as a pro, a bruising defeat against Emiliano Marsili for the European title saw Derry call it a day. Enough was enough. But then he got the call to challenge reigning British Lightweight champio...

The Saint was in some huge fights during his career but there was none more crucial than his 2011 showdown with James Degale. It was a bout that brought together two former club mates and amateur rivals, by then both undefeated as pros, in a genuine grudge match. The kind of clash that boxing fans yearn for but rarely get to see. George was a big underdog and knew that a defeat would see him writt...

In this latest episode in our Make or Break series me & Matt are joined by none other than former unified world Lightweight champion Nate Campbell. The Galaxxy Warrior takes us back to March 2008 and Cancun, Mexico, where the day after his 36th birthday he faced his last chance to win a world title. In the opposite corner was the undefeated, 33-0, WBA, IBF & WBO 135lbs champion, Juan Diaz, who was...