Share
29th January 2015
03:02pm GMT
The middleweight also revealed to us how close he really was to hanging up his gloves after his latest loss, a 10th round stoppage at the hands of Jorge Sebastian Heiland.
"You never want to make the decision on camera, just after a fight, because emotions are running high and you don't know what you're thinking," he said.
"When I got back to the hotel and let it sink in a bit more, I started talking to Joe [Gallagher] and a few other people whose opinion I really respect and thought 'that's probably it now'."
But The Tipperary Tornado claimed that after a few weeks of reflection, he realised the time to call it a day hadn't yet arrived.
"In the days and weeks that followed I analysed things a bit more and that's when I thought 'No, it probably was just me being burnt out.'
"It's a big decision and I'll be retired a long time so, when I do retire, I want that peace of mind and closure to know that I'm retiring because it's the right thing to do."
Macklin also opens up about the potential for a future fight with current WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee.
"I think that could happen," he said. "As long as I come back and I feel good and win in May and Andy can, please God, win his next one then I think that's a huge fight. Certainly the biggest fight in Ireland that I can remember with two Irish fighters."
Macklin was in Dublin to promote his upcoming appearance on Strictly Spin, a celebrity dance event that takes place tomorrow night in aid of Irish Homeless Street Leagues.
Delighted to announce professional boxer legendary Matthew Macklin will be dancing in #StrictlySpin this Friday! pic.twitter.com/EtG1co42f2
— Irish Street League (@IrishStLeague) January 25, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoVh5x0oQhEExplore more on these topics:
Boxing | SportsJOE
boxing
