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Epix and EpixHD.com will carry the June 25 fight between WBA middleweight titlist Felix Sturm and Matthew Macklin, live at 5 p.m. EDT from the Lanxess-Arena in Cologne, Germany.
Sturm (35-2-1, 15 KO) will be making the 10th defense of his title, and for the first time since facing Sebastian Sylvester in 2008, against an opponent ranked in most top 10s. Macklin (28-2, 19 KO) has won 11 straight fights dating back to his 2006 loss to Jamie Moore.
Realistically, neither of them have been fighting the toughest competition out there, but winning's winning, and it's a fairly interesting fight overall. Plus it's nice to have the option anyway, as Epix continues to look into more "creative" ways of picking up significant boxing without paying much money. It's almost enough to make you wonder why ESPN has never done more with this very market, considering they're ESPN and have like 12 channels to fill with what could not be World's Strongest Man replays, and it's also enough to make you wish that Epix was available in more homes, which I still suspect is part of their plan with boxing, to present themselves as something other than Yet Another Premium Movie Channel.