Macklin-Gevor Added to Khan-McCloskey Card, Brinkley-Quillin on April 29

Macklin-Gevor Added to Khan-McCloskey Undercard

In a move that makes the April 16 Sky Box Office card stronger, Matthew Macklin will face Khoren Gevor in a middleweight 12-rounder.

Macklin (28-2, 19 KO) was set to battle Winky Wright on the April 9 HBO PPV card headlined by Erik Morales-Marcos Maidana, but predictably enough Wright pulled out of the fight, leaving Macklin with little time to find a new opponent. He was still slotted in on the show tentatively, but has now bumped his date back a week to take on Gevor (31-5, 16 KO) in Manchester.

Where Macklin-Gevor fails in giving Macklin any U.S. exposure, it succeeds as a perfectly reasonable fight, especially on such short notice. Truth be told, Macklin didn't look great in his last fight against Spaniard Ruben Varon, and Gevor might be the sort of opponent he needs right now. The 32-year-old Armenian has lost two of his last three, falling to Felix Sturm and Dimitri Sartison in those bouts, the latter fight at super middleweight. Against the five best opponents of Gevor's career, he's 0-5, including two losses to Lukas Konecny and a brutal KO at the hands of Arthur Abraham. If Macklin really belongs on the world stage, there are worse measuring sticks than Gevor.

It's too bad that Macklin keeps getting the runaround like this, though. First Darren Barker and now Winky Wright, leaving him in the lurch when he's genuinely desired step-up fights.

The main event that evening will see Amir Khan battle Paul McCloskey. It is a fairly good overall card, though as we all know things change. Here's the lineup at the moment.

Main Event, Junior Welterweights: Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO) v. Paul McCloskey (22-0, 12 KO)

Middleweights: Matthew Macklin (28-2, 19 KO) v. Khoren Gevor (31-5, 16 KO)

Middleweights: Martin Murray (21-0, 8 KO) v. John Anderson Carvalho (21-4-1, 11 KO)

British Welterweight Title: Craig Watson (20-3, 8 KO) v. Lee Purdy (14-2-1, 7 KO)

Super Bantamweights: Scott Quigg (21-0, 14 KO) v. Andrei Isaeu (23-2, 7 KO)

Lightweights: Andy Murray (23-0, 12 KO) v. Graeme Higginson (13-8-1, 4 KO)

Quigg is a good prospect at 122 pounds and his fight will be what I'm most interested in on the undercard, to be honest. Martin Murray says he accepted an offered fight with Macklin, but it didn't happen.

As for Ricky Hatton, who is helping to promote the card, he's excited about the lineup and sounds content with his promoter's role, though he admits to badly missing boxing:

"I am absolutely delighted with the undercard we have put together. It is a massive chance for Hatton Promotions to show what we can do on the biggest stage and I think we have got the fighters to make this show a great success."

HBO will be airing Khan-McCloskey in the United States that night, but on tape delay. The fight will air live on Sky Box Office in the American afternoon, and we'll be here with live coverage of the full event on that date.

Remember Peter Quillin?

Brinkley (35-6, 22 KO) is coming off of a one-sided but game loss to Lucian Bute last October, while Quillin (23-0, 17 KO) will be looking to finally get his career takeoff. Quillin, 27, was once a solid prospect, born in Grand Rapids and fighting out of Brooklyn, but injuries and overall stagnation in his progress have made him all but a forgotten man. He missed significant time with injuries to his hand and eye, as well as an appendectomy, all of which kept him out of the ring from September 2008 until February 2010.

In 2010, Quillin went 3-0. He's got plenty of wins on his record over well-traveled gatekeepers (Antwun Echols, Fernando Zuniga, Troy Lowry, etc.) but has yet to notch a significant win. Brinkley is certainly not a top contender at 168 pounds, but he's a solid fighter who gives a serious effort every time out. There's no Friday Night Fights that evening, so this fight could serve as a good substitute. No venue is set for the event, but the location obviously looks to be Reno, where Brinkley is a solid draw.