Birmingham based Irish fighter Matthew Macklin is hoping to claim back his old title from new European Middleweight Champion Darren Barker.
Macklin has signaled his intent after vacating the European crown in March rather than hold it up after he suffered an injury at Freddie Roach’s Wildcard Gym in Los Angeles while training for his first defence.
Purse bids are due for the fight later this month and Macklin is hoping the reigning champion does not make excuses to defend his title.
“I gave up the European title because I was injured and I didn’t want to hold the title up and deny other fighters the opportunity to fight for it,†explained Macklin.
“Barker got the opportunity and full credit to him for taking it but I never lost the title in the ring so until he gets in there with me Barker’s really only a paper champion.â€
“I just hope that he doesn’t come up with any excuses to find a way of ducking out of the fight and will man up and try to prove that he is worthy of calling himself European Champion.â€
