Matthew Macklin has decided to forgo his August 30 title eliminator bout against Jorge Sebastian Heiland after his trainer, Jamie Moore, was shot last Friday. Moore is recovering in the hospital after being shot in the hip and the leg. The shooting occurred in Spain, where Macklin was training.
"I am disappointed to have to postpone my fight but in the light of the circumstances and the disruption to my preparation it is the right thing to do," said Macklin. "Every fight at this stage in my career is of huge importance and being 100% for the night is vital."
The entire card will be postponed to later this year.
Prior to training Macklin, Moore was himself a fighter, who at one time held the British and European light middleweight champion belts. Moore fought Macklin in 2006, winning a fight of the year candidate via 10th round KO. Moore last fought in 2010, retiring on his stool after six rounds of fighting against Sergey Khomitski.