Matthew Macklin’s third attempt at earning the right to fight for a world title ended in defeat in Dublin last weekend. 

A sold-out arena watched the 32-year-old Birmingham-based Irish middleweight suffer a devastating 10th-round KO at the hands of Argentina’s Jorge Sebastian Heiland in their WBC title eliminator. 

Along with the fight, the former British and European champion lost the opportunity to mix it with Miguel Cotto for the title in 2015.

Macklin is a rare breed in boxing, a fighter who has never ducked an opponent and on the contrary has always relished fighting the very best there is to test himself. 

To lose against the likes of Felix Sturm, Sergio Martinez and Gennady Golovkin in a professional career consisting of 37 fights with 6 losses is nothing to be ashamed of. 

If he does decide the time has come to call it a day, he can retire without any regrets.

Watching him slumped against the ropes after being on the wrong end of a vicious right hook, the reality of a sport in which the difference between success and failure is the split second it takes to throw a punch hit home. 

Years of self-denial and sacrifice, punishing early morning road work, endless rounds of hard sparring, fighting on undercards in less than salubrious venues, it can all seem for nothing to those who dedicate themselves to the game and fall short of the huge rewards that arrive on the back of a world title.

In this regard Matthew Macklin is more fortunate than most in his position. 

He’s an articulate and clever man who along with his brother runs the popular MGM gym in Marbella, which is now established as a base for champions and contenders from all over the world. 

Whatever happens he will be okay. Sadly, the same can’t be said for many others in his position.