Middleweight contender Matthew Macklin is going into his world title eliminator against Argentina's Jorge Sebastien Heiland knowing a win will lead him to an eventual fourth shot at a belt.
The winner of the Nov. 15 bout at The 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland, will become the mandatory challenger for world champion Miguel Cotto, although Cotto won't have to face the winner immediately.
Cotto likely will first face Canelo Alvarez in May in a massive fight, with the winner of that bout obligated to next face titleholder Gennady Golovkin, who, by virtue of his acquisition of an interim belt to add to his full title, is next in line.
But Macklin (31-5, 20 KOs) is using the prospect of another title shot as motivation against Heiland (24-4-2, 12 KOs), whom he was initially supposed to face Aug. 30 at the National Stadium in Dublin before the fight was postponed after Macklin's trainer, Jamie Moore, suffered gunshot wounds during an incident in Marbella, Spain.
"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," said Macklin, who has come up short in title shots against Felix Sturm (by highly controversial split decision), Sergio Martinez (TKO11) and Golovkin (KO3).
Since Macklin would have to wait for a mandatory shot at the belt Cotto currently holds, he would also be interested in challenging the winner of the Dec. 13 vacant title bout between Matt Korobov and Andy Lee. A Macklin-Lee fight has been talked about for years since they both have big Irish fan bases.
"I think Andy has got a good chance," Macklin said. "Styles make fights and Korobov is a technical counterpunching southpaw. He'll give Andy [also a southpaw] 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."