Mack the Knife's Boxing Life: Reviewing the Ring Career of Matthew Macklin

It turns out Matthew Macklin knew is was the end of the line before he had reached the end of his final fight.

The boxer nicknamed Mack The Knife was in serious strife at the midway point of his April bout against Brian Rose in London.

Despite rallying in the second half to record a majority-decision win on the scorecards, Macklin had already experienced a moment of clarity: The time had come for him to hang up the gloves.

Now the 34-year-old has made it official. Via a lengthy post on the Macklin Gym Marbella's official Facebook page, he explained how his body had told him "enough was enough."

Macklin finishes with a 35-6 (22 KOs) record. He had stints as British and European champion, yet a world title eluded him on three occasions.

Macklin told Sky Sports (h/t Tim Hobbs of SkySports.com): "I hope people will remember I gave it my all, never shied away from a challenge, took on the best and fought them in their prime.

"Win, lose or draw I went out on my shield and put everything on the line."

Here, Bleacher Report looks back at some of the memorable moments of Macklin's career.

The Domestic Classic: Macklin vs. Jamie Moore (2006)

Campaigning at super welterweight, Macklin challenged for the British title on Sept. 29, 2006.

Jamie Moore was the defending champion. It looked a good contest on paper—it turned out to be a domestic classic in the ring.

In reviewing the fight for Boxing News, James Slater wrote:

"

Coming out like a train and fighting the entire fight like one that had lost its brakes, Macklin put severe pressure on his southpaw opponent. At times during the thrilling spectacle it looked as though Moore might be overwhelmed, but his ability to fight on the ropes, to turn his man and to pace himself served him well.

"

The challenger's issue was his fast start failed to produce a stoppage victory.

As the rounds ticked by, Macklin's tank slowly emptied. Moore was hardly fresh as a daisy himself, yet he summoned up enough energy to retain his belt.

In Round 10, a right-left combination dropped Macklin face-first to the canvas. It was a horrible knockdown, and there were immediate concerns for his health.

Macklin required treatment in the ring before being carried out on a stretcher, although he did raise his hand to acknowledge the crowd's applause.

After all they went through on the night, the duo unsurprisingly struck up a friendship. Moore, who retired in 2010, even trained his former opponent for a period of time.

In his blog for Sky Sports, Moore said of the famous fight: "I guess people remember it for good reason—although I won, nobody was a loser because he put in such an effort and showed such heart and determination to try and win."

The Near-Miss: Macklin vs. Felix Sturm (2011)

Associated Press

Matthew Macklin felt he did enough to take the title from Felix Sturm.

There are two reasons why Macklin bowed out from boxing without winning a world title.

In two of his three attempts, he ran into high-class opponents who were just too good for him on the night (more on that pair of losses to come). There is no shame in that.

In the other, however, he was robbed.

If you look in the record books, Felix Sturm managed to retain his WBA middleweight title with a split-decision win over Macklin on June 25, 2011.

For those who watched the fight, the champion—fighting on home turf—was the beneficiary of some scandalous judging in Cologne, Germany.

According to BoxRec, Macklin landed 314 punches through the 12 rounds. In contrast, Sturm found the target with just 187.

Yet despite being the busier of the two, Macklin somehow only convinced one judge—Levi Martinez had it 115-113 to the Englishman—he deserved the victory.

Roberto Ramirez Sr. and Jose Ignacio Martinez Antunez, however, scored the contest 116-112 to Sturm. It was a heist even Yosemite Sam would have been proud of.

Macklin did not hold back in his post-fight interview, per Gareth A Davies of the Telegraph: "I thought I strolled the first six, seven. He probably had two clearly, and the others you could have given them to me. Some rounds were touch-and-go, but you could have given them to me on work rate."

New York, New York: Macklin vs. Sergio Martinez (2012)

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Sergio Martinez climbed off the canvas to win at Madison Square Garden Theater.

Macklin may not have picked up a title against Sturm, but he did raise his profile in the middleweight division.

As Kevin Iole wrote for Yahoo Sports: "It was good for Macklin, though, that the loss [to Sturm] was televised in the United States. American fans were outraged by what they saw."

Promoter Lou DiBella was suitably impressed by the Englishman, who was signed up to fight Sergio Martinez on March 17, 2012.

The bout—staged at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York—saw southpaw Martinez put his WBC Diamond middleweight title on the line.

Just as he had against Sturm, Macklin rose to the challenge on the road.

He even recorded a knockdown in Round 7, although Martinez seemed to touch the canvas with his glove due to a loss of balance, rather than the result of one particular punch.

However, the champion was stirred into life by having to take a count. He came on strong in the late rounds, dropping Macklin to the canvas twice in Round 11.

With their fighter taking heavy punishment, the challenger's corner decided to pull their man out.

Macklin was not thrilled by the decision, as he told Sky Sports afterward (h/t the Press Association via the Guardian): "I've never ever quit. I wanted to continue. I gave it 100 per cent. I think anyone who watched would agree. Hopefully I didn't let anyone down."

Facing GGG: Macklin vs. Gennady Golovkin (2013)

You can never question Macklin's willingness to fight the very best around at 160 pounds.

Having come up short against the excellent Martinez, the Birmingham-born boxer was given another shot at a different world champion on June 29, 2013.

Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin—GGG for short—held the WBA and IBO titles. He was also unbeaten as a pro, with 23 of his 26 wins coming by stoppage.

It always looked a monumental challenge for Macklin, particularly as his only fight since losing to Martinez had been a first-round KO of Joachim Alcine.

Golovkin walked down his opponent before finishing the bout in Round 3, a sickening left to the body leaving the challenger sprawled on the canvas in pain.

According to Mike Dawes of the Daily Mail, Macklin was full of praise for his Kazakh opponent after the defeat:

"

Without a shadow of a doubt, he's definitely the best kid I've ever fought.

I had a plan to exploit his weakness which was his lack of experience—he's only been 10 rounds once—but credit to him, he didn't even let me get into any kind of rhythm at all.

He was patient, he was hard to hit clean, kept the pressure on, picked his punches well and that body shot took it out of me.

"

He didn't know it at the time, but Macklin's dreams of becoming a world champion were finally extinguished at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

The Final Flourish: Macklin vs. Brian Rose (April 2016)

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Brian Rose (right) turned out to be the final opponent of Macklin's pro career.

Macklin and Brian Rose met on the undercard to heavyweight Anthony Joshua's world-title challenge against Charles Martin at the O2 Arena in the English capital.

The vacant IBF Intercontinental middleweight belt was on the line, but the fight was about much more than just a minor title.

Both had fallen short in attempts to become a world champion.

Having lost to WBO super welterweight champion Demetrius Andrade in 2014, Rose moved up in the hope of securing another shot at glory at middleweight.

It was seen as a must-win contest for Macklin, who revealed beforehand that a defeat would send him into retirement, per Isaac Robinson of SkySports.com.

The bout wasn't a classic, but it did not lack for drama. Macklin, who at one stage looked to be exhausted, had a point deducted in Round 10 for low blows, only for Rose to lose one in Round 12 for holding.

There was little to split the pair at the final bell, as shown by one judge scoring it 113-113.

Macklin, though, got the nod 115-111 from the other two officials. It seemed at the time his storied career would be extended into another chapter—instead it turned out to be the end.

After announcing his retirement on May 12, Macklin told Sky Sports (h/t Tim Hobbs of SkySports.com) how it was the perfect way to bow out: "Rose was a proper fight.

"He's not Golovkin or Martinez, but for me it was the right fight for me to finally make the decision. I knew it was going to come, and it was the right way to go out, with a win at least."

Thanks for the memories, Matthew.