Matthew Macklin has sights set on world title

Matthew Macklin has admitted that he has Miguel Cotto on his mind, despite having the small task of facing Jorge Sebastian Heiland first. The Tipperary Tornado goes head-to-head with Argentina's Heiland at the 3Arena on November 15 in an eliminator for Cotto's WBC middleweight title. But Macklin admits that he has given some thought to a title fight and it's location. He said: “Cotto is such a big draw in New York City at Madison Square Garden, but if you can do 60,000 people at Croke Park then the economics of the fight change. If the fight captures the imagination and sells out a stadium, you can bring anyone, anywhere. That's the dream. “Challenging Cotto in New York would be an incredible experience – to face someone of his stature there. But that's a lot of wins to put together first.” Macklin has added that the potential for an Irish world title fight with Andy Lee could be on the cards, if Lee is to get past Matt Korobov in December for the vacant WBO belt, but that a belt is the vital missing ingredient at the moment. He said: “I think Andy has got a good chance. Styles make fights and Korobov is a technical counter-punching southpaw, he'll give Andy room and time and Andy performs better if he's allowed that, he's a class act. "If he can win that then me and Andy fighting for the world title is massive. It's a huge fight anyway but a world title is that key element. "I'll be rooting for him for selfish reasons but also because he's flying the flag for Irish boxing too and he's a good lad, so I hope he does the business for himself and also as it sets up a potential fight for us.”