Matthew Macklin hopes that a victory over Jorge Sebastian Heiland on Nov. 15 could lead to a shot at RING middleweight champion Miguel Cotto.

Macklin (31-5, 20 knockouts) will face Heiland (24-4-2, 12 KOs) at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland, in an eliminator bout to become the mandatory challenger to Cotto’s WBC belt.

Macklin, 32, is coming off last month’s majority decision over Jose Yebes that had followed last December’s unanimous decision over Lamar Russ.

Prior to facing Russ, Macklin had lost to Felix Sturm by split decision in a failed attempt to win the WBA belt in June 2011, fallen by 11th round stoppage to then-RING champion Sergio Martinez in March 2012 and by third-round knockout against WBA titleholder Gennady Golovkin in June 2013.

Macklin bounced back from the loss to Martinez with a first-round knockout of Joachim Alcine in September 2012. The loss to Martinez took place at New York’s Madison Square Garden (in the Theater), where Cotto is immensely popular. Cotto’s win over Martinez also occurred at the Garden.

“Cotto is such a big draw in New York City at Madison Square Garden,” said Macklin. “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.”

Heiland, 27, is coming off last month’s fifth-round stoppage of Mateo Damian Veron, against whom he is 2-1-1. The win represented Heiland’s third straight knockout victory after having lost to Veron by majority decision in June 2013.

Note: Quotes taken from a release from Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport.

DANNY O’CONNOR 146, ANDREW FARMER 146

Welteweights Danny O’Connor and Andrew Farmer weighed 146 pounds each in advance of Thursday’s clash at the Plymouth Memorial Hall in Plymouth, Mass., in a “Golden Boy Live!” event on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes.

A 29-year-old southpaw, O’Connor (23-2, 7 knockouts) will attempt to rebound from a split decision loss to former titleholder Vivian Harris in his last fight in October 2013. O’Connor’s ring inactivity since the fight with Harris was due in large part to to an elbow injury.

Farmer (18-2, 7 KOs), 29, has won five straight fights since being stopped in the fourth round by Ikem Orji in March 2010. Farmer is coming off a unanimous decision over David Warren Huffman in May.

For the co-feature, lightweight contender Sharif Bogere and Fernando Garcia each weighed 136 pounds.

Nicknamed “The Lion,” Bogere is is 5-1 with five knockouts in his past six fights and will be after his third straight victory against Garcia. In his lone setback in March 2013, Bogere lost by unanimous decision to WBA lightweight beltholder Richar Abril.

Since being stopped in consecutive bouts in the second and first rounds by Raul Hinojosa and Jose Felix Jr. in March and June 2013, respectively, Garcia has won three fights and is coming off last month’s majority decision over Pedro Lopez.

Irish standout Jason Quigley and his opponent, Greg McCoy weighed 165.5 and 165, respectively.

As follows are the remainder of the weights on the nine-fight card:

Mark DeLuca 158.5, Ryan Davis 159.5

Paul Gonsalves 168, Sergio Cabrera 168

Michael McLaughlin 154, Paule DeSouza 154

Julian Pollard 256.5, John Orr 302.5

D’Mitrius Ballard 173, Thomas Gifford 171.5

Lamont Roach Jr. 137.5, Rafael Francis 138.8

BILLY DIB RETURNS TO ACTION ON FRIDAY

Former IBF featherweight titleholder Billy “The Kid” Dib (37-3, 21 KOs) returns to action in a junior lightweight bout against Ruben Manakane (14-11-1, 9 KOs) on Friday in Melbourne, Australia.

Dib, 29, is 2-2 in his past four fights and is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Alberto Garza in his 130-pound debut in July.

Prior to that, Dib was dethroned as IBF beltholder following a split decision loss to Evgeny Gradovich in March 2013, won a majority decision over Mike Oliver in July 2013 and was stopped in the ninth round of his rematch with Gradovich last November.

SULLIVAN BARRERA TO FIGHT ROWLAND BRYANT ON BERNARD HOPKINS-SERGEY KOVALEV CARD

Cuban light heavyweight Sullivan Barrera (13-0, 8 KOs) will be in his second consecutive fight under trainer Abel Sanchez when he meets Rowland Bryant (18-4, 12 KOs) in support of the 175-pound main event between IBF/WBA titleholder Bernard Hopkins and WBO counterpart Sergey Kovalev at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

“As a light heavyweight prospect, this is a big opportunity for Sullivan Barrera to appear on the undercard of such an exciting and highly- anticipated light heavyweight unification fight,” said Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events.

“At 13-0, it’s also perfect timing. I expect Sullivan to capitalize on this chance and impress the fans, media and network executives who will all be at Boardwalk Hall on Nov. 8 so that he can take the next step in his career in 2015.”

Barrera has benefited immensely during his short time with Sanchez, who trains WBA middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin.

“I’ve been training very hard, said Barrera, 32. “Training camp has been great. We have had excellent sparring.”

Sullivan is coming off last month’s sixth-round stoppage of Eric Watkins and has spent his time wisely toward improving under Sanchez in Big Bear, Calif.

“In our second training camp together, things and the system are making more sense to Sullivan. He is understanding his part a lot better,” said Sanchez. “Our style here at The Summit Gym is to make sure we work towards a world championship and provide entertainment along the way.”

Bryant, 35, is 2-3 in his past five fights and is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Pawel Glazewski in August.

“I came to America to seek not only a better future for my family but to become world champion,” said Barrera. “This is my dream. I love America.”

HEALTHIER, HAPPIER VYACHESLAV GLAZKOV TO FACE DARNELL WILSON ON NOV. 8

Heavyweight Vyacheslav Glazkov (18-0-1, 11 KOs) has a healed right hand as well as a calm heart in advance of his fight with Darnell Wilson (25-17-3, 21 KOs) on the Hopkins-Kovalev undercard.

Glazkov, 30, is coming off a majority decision over Derric Rossy in August. Glazkov had been worried before the fight for not having heard from his parents in war-torn Ukraine in over two weeks. Physically, Glazkov’s hand had been bothering him since his unanimous decision victory over Tomasz Adamek in March.

“My hand was bothering me. It wasn’t broken but it did not recover as well as I had hoped. It is not an excuse but it was still bothering me from my fight with Adamek,” said Glazkov. “But my hand is feeling much better. I was able to rest it after the Rossy fight and now I am very excited to be on the big card in Atlantic City.”

Glazkov’s trainer, John David Jackson also serves as the corner man for Kovalev, and detects a healthy and more focused fighter for Wilson.

“The hand looks good. I can feel the difference when he throws it now. It is definitely a lot better for him at this stage of the camp,” said Jackson. “Knowing his family is OK has made it much easier for me because it relieves a lot of pressure from his mind. Now that his dad is coming, it will probably be good for him. He is in great spirits right now.”

Notes: Glazkov, Jackson quotes from a release.