 Macklin had been confident of beating Barker to reclaim the European title |
Matthew Macklin will face Georgia's Shalva Jomardashvili for the European middleweight crown on 18 September. Macklin had been due to fight British and European champion Darren Barker but their bout was called off when Barker suffered a hip injury. Barker vacates the European title ahead of Macklin's bout in Birmingham. Manchester's Matthew Hall will fight Lukas Konecny for the vacant European might-middleweight title after Ryan Rhodes also withdrew injured. Birmingham-born Macklin, 28, who vacated the European title in March after suffering an injury, said: "I was gutted to hear that Barker had pulled out of our fight, but the main thing for me and my fans is that I'm still fighting in my home town." Hall, 26, was due to fight in London a week after the Birmingham show and said he is fit and raring to go. "I had a strange feeling that something like this was going to happen, don't ask me why, but I just felt it was going to happen," he said. "It's a dream come for me to fight for the European title and I'm going to win it." Promoter Frank Warren said: "It's been a hectic few days and nothing is ever easy in this sport, but I'm delighted that both Matthews will get the chance to fight for European titles." The card at the LG Arena features a total of 10 title bouts.
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