Matthew Macklin: 'Golovkin is very dangerous, but he's right there in front of you'

Middleweight contender and former two-time world title challenger Matthew Macklin is hoping that the third time's the charm on June 29 , when he faces WBA titleholder Gennady Golovkin in an HBO main event.

Macklin (29-4, 20 KO) has trained for the fight in Spain thus far, but will join lead trainer Buddy McGirt in New York soon.

"I have had an excellent camp so far here in Spain, and I am looking forward to coming over to NYC to join Buddy and get acclimated to the time difference. It is great having my own gym when I am preparing for a fight, but I also cherish the fact that the facility is home to a number of world-class athletes from all types of sports, as well as for the local kids here to come in and learn the sport of boxing," Macklin said.

"We start our day with an early morning run. I divide my running sessions up between hill runs, through the beautiful mountains, and sprints. After my run, I go home and have a good breakfast and relax until the afternoon. In the afternoon, I head to the gym for my main session of the day. I switch things around to keep things fresh; depending on the day, the main focus of the session will either be pad-work or sparring. On alternate days, I'll go back to the gym in the evening and work with my strength and conditioning coach. At night, I will either watch a movie to relax, or go for a long walk around the beautiful harbor in Marbella.

"I have been a pro since 2001, but I am always learning and trying new things in training. There is no substitute for experience and through that, you find out what works for you and what doesn't. It is important to listen to your body and not be afraid to adapt your training routine based on what your body is telling you."

While Golovkin is definitely the favored man, and is considered one of the future stars of boxing, Macklin believes that a leaky but as yet unexposed defense will give him a lot of opportunities to score offensively and pull the upset.

"I am very excited about this fight, because Golovkin is there to be hit. With someone like Sergio Martinez, because of his style and movement, it can be very hard to land cleanly on him and get your combinations off, and that is frustrating. With Golovkin, obviously he is very dangerous, but he is right there in front of you. Everyone talks about his power, and believe me, I am well aware of it, but just like I am going to have to deal with his, he is going to have to deal with mine.

"I've always had a lot of confidence in my own ability. I think the nature of my career and the ups and downs that I've had to get to this point have made me a very mentally strong person. To become World Champion and finally lift that world title belt is a goal that has driven me since the first day I put on a pair of boxing gloves. I've won everything else in terms of Irish, British and European titles and I should have had the world title after I got ripped off in the Sturm fight. Each setback though has just made me more determined to become World Champion so that's really the driving force behind me at this point in my career.

"As much as I am looking forward to June 29th, the fans are the real winners in this fight. This is a real old fashioned, middleweight ‘fight' and a throwback to the great middleweight heyday of the 40's and 50's where the best fought the best. I don't think there are going to be too many tactical surprises in there from either of us. You have two physically strong punchers who love to come forward, so it's no surprise that people are predicting a real war.

"Gennady's a great fighter and he will go on to achieve a lot in this sport, but every great fighter hits a bump in the road at some point, and for Gennady, that will come on June 29th."