PREDICTION PAGE: Golovkin or Macklin?

Paul Malignaggi’s advisor Anthony Catanzaro drew some behind-the-back scorn from folks who thought he and his team were crazy for accepting a fight with young gun Adrien Broner.

‘Paulie will get steamrolled,’ was a widely help perception of many experts. He did not, in fact, get steamrolled on June 24 at Barclays Center.

Catanzaro has humbly not gone on an “I told ya so” campaign but perhaps a takeaway should be this: maybe we should listen to and respect his take that much more when we solicit his prediction on a forthcoming bout. Such as, this Saturday’s middleweight clash, between titlist Gennady Golovkin, the heavy-handed native of Kahzkstan, and Anglo-Irishman Matthew Macklin (pictured above, right, with Golovkin, left, and Lady Liberty, in K2/Will Hart photo) who wants to succeed in his third try at a crown, after being rebuffed by Felix Sturm and then Sergio Martinez.

I asked Catanzaro his take on the middleweight tussle, promoted by Lou DiBell and K2, which unfolds at Foxwoods in Connecticut, and on HBO.

“This is Golovkin’s biggest test,” he said. “He’s fighting an extremely hungry underdog, with big fight experience. Macklin has the better resume. Macklin is also a big puncher. It’s an extremely competitive fight. Macklin was robbed versus Felix Sturm and he likes playing the underdog role. It’s a tossup. I’m leaning towards Macklin.”

Readers, what say you? Weigh in, in our Forum! Leave your prediction, including how you think the fight will progress!