Tornado to hurl himself into eye of the Sturm

BIRMINGHAM-Irish boxer Matthew Macklin is one fight away from becoming the WBA middleweight champion of the world.

The ‘Tipperary Tornado’, whose parents hail from Ballingarry in Tipp and Four Roads in Roscommon, faces Germany’s Felix Sturm at a sold-out Lanxess Arena in Cologne on Saturday (Sky Sports 1, 10pm).

German star Sturm has been the WBA champion for the last four years and is the odds-on favourite to overcome the threat posed by the 29-year-old two-time European champion.