British middleweight Matthew Macklin has lost out in his bid to put himself in line for a shot at the WBC title after suffering defeat to Jorge Sebastian Heiland.

Making his return to Dublin for the first time in five years, Macklin had been fancied to grind out a win against the Argentine but, despite a fast start, he struggled against his busy opponent.

Heiland's work rate constantly had Macklin in trouble and although the open-scoring system had them level after four rounds, the former world title challenger was two rounds behind after eight.

Macklin was visibly tiring but he was not given the chance to make it to the final bell as Heiland landed with a heavy combination to leave the referee with little choice but to immediately wave off the bout in the 10th round.

The defeat leaves Macklin with work to do to return to world level, with retirement a possibility after failing to earn a fourth world title shot.