Boxing: Winning combination of brainpower and brawn

Who's who for 2002: Matthew Macklin: Boxing clever

Compared to football of late, boxing is positively pristine. The battered old game, in this country at least, is undergoing something of a makeover, if not a metamorphosis. And if you think that is a word beyond the comprehension of the latter-day pugilist, you would be well wrong, as they say in the business.

In the past, boxers who used their brains out of the ring as well as risking them inside it were a bit thin on the canvas, though the former world title contender Nicky Piper, now a Boxing Board steward, was a member of Mensa. But according to the promoter Frank Warren, there are new kids on the block; smart, articulate, well-read, many from middle-class backgrounds, and all looking to make a decent living from swatting rather than swotting.

He has around a dozen and a half in his class of 2002, who between them have had more than 100 bouts and only one defeat. Their average age is around 22.

Several could make it, but if you were to put money on one it would be 19-year-old Matthew Macklin. The brightest of the bunch, certainly in terms of academic nous, the former public schoolboy from the up-market Birmingham suburb of Solihull has curtailed studying to become a lawyer to try and win a world welterweight title.

Since turning professional in November he has won both his fights with first-round stoppages and is developing into one of the most powerful two-fisted punchers the domestic welter-weight division has seen. A devastating right as well as an educated left.

Macklin became enthused about boxing as a 10-year-old watching Mike Tyson on TV. His father took him to the Small Heath amateur club, where it was soon revealed that here was that rare breed, a natural box-fighter. He became a European junior champion and last March was the youngest contender in 26 years to win a full ABA title, six weeks before his 19th birthday. All six opponents were knocked out or down.

An "unrefusable" offer from the deeply impressed Warren helped him decide to forego the prospect of Commonwealth and Olympic gold and embark on a professional career. "People in boxing whose opinions I respect told me, 'Don't leave it all in the amateurs, your style is made for the pros'. I reckoned if I turned pro I could go all the way and win a world title, which has always been my dream."

Meanwhile, apart from fistfuls of boxing trophies, he had also acquired nine GCSEs and A levels in English, history and German. Initially he decided to follow his sister Teresa, 22, who is about to become a barrister, into law. He was almost a year into his degree course at Coventry University when it was apparent that his studies were falling behind because of his boxing training.

"I was knackered trying to do both. So I had a chat with my tutor and we agreed that I could always return to take my law degree after I have finished with boxing. Hopefully I won't have to.

"I feel a bit embarrassed because my parents have spent a small fortune on my education. But they've been very supportive over my boxing, they know it is in my blood."

After disposing of two normally durable opponents, Ram Singh and Christian Hodorogea, in a total of 3min 28sec, Macklin makes his next appearance on the Joe Calzaghe world title bill in Cardiff on 9 February. His trainer, Spencer McCracken, describes him as "hungry for success".

He will not be 20 until May, so he can afford to take his time. But he has set a goal of winning a world title within two or three years, helping to restore dignity, excitement and erudition to the noble art. A gentleman, and a scholar.