Gallagher confirms presence in Macklin’s corner for Barker showdown
Joe Gallagher has confirmed to BoxRec News that he will work Matthew Macklin’s corner for his European middleweight title challenge against Darren Barker, regardless of whether Macklin’s official trainer Freddie Roach is able to be present for their 18 September clash.
A story today on promoter Frank Warren’s website has speculated that Roach may not be available to accompany Macklin to the ring at Birmingham’s LG Arena due to his impending commitments with Manny Pacquiao and Gallagher is likely to step in.
“As far as I’m concerned I was always going to be in Matthew’s corner for the Darren Barker fight so this isn’t anything new to me,” explained Gallagher over the phone. “Hopefully Freddie Roach will be joining us because he’s the best trainer in the world but if not this won’t be a major disruption to Matthew’s preparations as some might think.”
Macklin surprisingly left Gallagher’s Manchester gym in February to link up with Roach’s acclaimed Wild Card gym in LA, despite producing back-to-back career best victories over Wayne Elcock (TKO 3) and Amin Asikainen (TKO 1) under Gallagher’s tutelage. The pair parted on good terms however and have recently rekindled their relationship.
“Matthew wants the best of both worlds which is understandable. He appreciates the progress that we made together but he also wants to benefit from the world class sparring and the knowledge of Freddie Roach that he can only get in America. We’re taking it on a fight by fight basis and everyone is comfortable with the arrangement. It would have been easy for me to criticise Macklin at the time but I actually admire him for actively seeking to improve himself as a fighter,” said Gallagher.
“I’ve recently returned from a fortnight with Matthew and Freddie at the Wild Card gym (where Macklin currently remains) and we’ve talked extensively about the Barker fight and we’re all singing from the same hymn sheet. There was a never a problem between Matthew and myself, it was simply down to him getting a better standard of sparring in America which I acknowledge.”
“Matthew’s been getting top class sparring with Freddie against the likes of Stanyslav Kashtanov (27-0, and mandatory for Brian Magee’s EBU super-middleweight crown) and Rashad Holloway which is great preparation for him. If he’s going to be fighting the likes of Kelly Pavlik, Winky Wright and Sebastian Sylvester after Barker then he needs to be fully prepared,” continued Gallagher.
Macklin vs Barker is the standout fight on Frank Warren’s Magnificent Seven show with opinion divided as to who will prevail. Not normally one to sit on the fence, Gallagher is surprisingly unsure of the outcome.
“This is a really difficult fight to call, it’s definitely 50-50 as both fighters have the qualities to trouble the other. Ultimately I think the outcome will be decided by which of them can display the greater composure. This is Darren Barker’s biggest stage by far, it’s going to be his version of Broadway, but people deal with pressure in different ways and some of them choke on the biggest stage,” reasoned Gallagher.
“I think Macklin is better prepared for the magnitude of this occasion. He’s been in with Jamie Moore, and ok he may have lost that fight but Jamie became European champion and I think Matthew is much wiser for the experience. I think he proved that by how easily he handled Wayne Elcock which was a big fight between two boxers from Birmingham. Matthew’s a better fighter now and he showed he has developed the maturity to cope with the pressure.”
“I just hope that Barker’s corner don’t leave him in there too long if he’s sustaining a lot of punishment. Sometimes fighters can be too brave for their own good, I saw that recently when I was working John Murray’s corner against Gary Buckland,” added Gallagher.
