Matthew Macklin gave his most impressive performance when knocking out Wayne Elcock to win the British middleweight title in March. On Friday he fights for the vacant European championship when he faces Finland’s Amin Asikainen in Manchester.

Macklin, from Birmingham in the English midlands but with Irish ancestral roots, starts a strong favourite. Although Asikainen is the former champion he was very disappointing when he was stopped  in the seventh round by Khoren Ghevor in their European title bout on Asikainen’s home turf in Helsinki last November. Asikainen was winning the fight on the cards and even scored a flash knockdown against the rugged Armenian, but Gevor landed a heavy left hand from his southpaw stance in the seventh and the Finn just seemed to fall apart.

In contrast to this, Macklin gave a tremendous display of smart, controlled aggression when he blew right through Elcock in what looked like an even-money match.

Macklin seemed to have reached a new level under his latest trainer, Joe Gallagher. He has had several trainers, among them Ricky Hatton’s former trainer, Billy Graham, but Gallagher seems to have got Macklin to find the perfect blend of aggression and intelligent boxing, with the left jab paving the way for the bigger shots.

There is a perception that Macklin is strictly a pressure fighter,  which was his style when Jamie Moore outlasted him in 10 rounds in a very exciting fight for the British light-middle title. Macklin does have good boxing ability, though, which he demonstrated in a disciplined performance when he outpointed Yory Boy Campas — Buddy McGirt was in his corner that night. 

There were those in British boxing who thought that Macklin would never be the same after the exhausting, punishing fight with Moore. He was given oxygen and taken from the ring on a stretcher, totally drained. 

Macklin has won seven in a row since that courageous defeat, including points wins over Campas and the dangerous but underachieving Geard Ajetovic. He did seem to have been quite badly wobbled a couple of times by Ajetovic, but for most of the fight he was outworking and outboxing the Serbian. Analyst Jim Watt mentioned in the Sky broadcast that Macklin probably needed a big fight to be able to perform at his best, and he was probably right because Macklin’s crispness and concentration were markedly improved when he blasted out Elcock.

He has signed a promotional contract with Hatton Promotions, which has a TV deal in place with Sky Sports, so Macklin could be on the brink of a major career breakthrough.

Asikainen, who turns 34 in four months, is a broad-shouldered, stand-up boxer who can punch with authority. He stopped Yory Boy Campas, although the referee seemed to intervene a bit quickly after Asikainen staggered the Mexican veteran, and he won and lost by stoppage in tough, closely contested bouts against Sebastian Sylvester in Germany. He had Sylvester down in each fight although in the rematch, which the German fighter won, the Italian referee mistakenly ruled the knockdown as a slip.

For six rounds, Asikainen was doing well against Ghevor. The way he crumbled in the seventh round concerns me, though. 

Asikainen has been boxing for a very long time. He was a long-serving amateur, having boxed in three world championships, and I have a feeling that he doesn’t take a punch as well as he once did.

Macklin, meanwhile, seems to be at the top of his form, and at 27 he is likely still improving — there was an impressive maturity to his boxing when he knocked out Elcock.

This is a tough fight for Macklin because Asikainen is experienced, a good technical fighter and a solid hitter, but I see the British boxer as faster, fresher and more naturally talented — and Macklin’s punching power has to be respected.

I think that Macklin can outjab and outbox Asikainen and perhaps wear him down by the later rounds. This won’t be another three-round blowout, because Asikainen is a much tougher type than Elcock, but I do expect a stoppage win for Macklin, perhaps in 10 rounds.