By Ryan Burton

Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City - In the opening bout of HBO's televised triple header, middleweight contender Mathew Macklin (30-5) handed the inexperienced Lamar Russ (14-1) his first professional loss. The fight was basically a game of cat and mouse with Macklin playing the cat to Russ' mouse. Russ had a few moments late in the fight but for the most part refused to le his hands go.

Macklin started out fast as he tried to impose his will on his inexperienced opponent. Macklin didn't land many punches but he out worked Russ the first two rounds. Russ came out more aggressively in the 3rd as both fighters started to land more frequently. Macklin started to really pick Russ apart in the 4th round, landing uppercuts to the head and hooks to the body as Russ went back into retreat mode. Macklin was cut early in the 5th round just before the two fighters clashed heads in what was ruled an accidental headbutt. The blood seemed to inspire Macklin more than Russ as he began to fight even more aggressively.

The one-sided nature of the fight continued through the middle rounds as Russ refused to stand and fight and for the most part didn't have anything on his punches.   A fight finally broke out in the 9th round as both fighters came out aggressively. Macklin landed the better shots but Russ for the first time in many rounds had some success. Russ appeared to be in trouble late in the round as he went back into retreat mode but managed to land a few more big shots when he decided to stand his ground.   Macklin threw his hands up in the 10th and final round, urging Russ to fight. Russ stuck his tongue out in response and landed a couple good shots before Macklin hit the canvas which was correctly ruled a slip. The final scores were 96-94, 98-92 and 97-93.