Boxing: Enzo on the brink of greatness

Mar 8 2008 by Gareth Jones, South Wales Echo

IN the small hours of tomorrow, Enzo Maccarinelli can add his name to the list of the world’s great boxers.

If the WBO cruiserweight champion captures David Haye’s WBC and WBA straps in front of 18,000 at London’s O2 Arena and a live television audience in the US, it will propel him into the sport’s stratosphere.

And the fame and fortune which follow will have been richly deserved. Few fights in recent British history have been harder to predict.

Both men possess knockout power. Both men have been knocked out themselves. Both have been floored before climbing up to stop their opponents.

The build-up has brought some outlandish statements from both sides.

Haye predicted a win inside a minute, let alone a round.

Trainer Enzo Calzaghe, always more ready with the verbal artillery than the laid-back Maccarinelli, warned David that if the fight went the distance he would never box again.

Haye, after regularly changing gyms and hotels during his preparation in Miami, was accused of being paranoid and trying to avoid spying eyes. David says he was just seeking fresh sparring partners.

This week, the Londoner refused to attend the traditional head-to-head press conference after it had been brought forward to an hour which did not fit in with his plan to remain on American time until the fight. Sensible – or the sign of a worried man?

Haye, whose problems making the 14st 4lb cruiser limit almost spelled disaster when he was decked by Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck before he won his two titles last November, says it has been easier this time. But he talks of what he plans to do afterwards in the heavyweight division.

Is he taking Maccarinelli for granted? Or does he subconsciously feel that tonight’s collision is of limited significance in the great scheme of his career?

If the latter, does it actually take some of the pressure off? If he loses, Haye has a ready-made excuse in the fact that he is no longer a natural cruiser.

Maccarinelli, on the other hand, has to deliver. He is boxing not far south of his walkaround weight. Even if he was to claim the belts at some future date, after a victorious Haye abandoned his battle with the scales, it would feel like second best.

Enzo’s sole defeat, in his fourth pro bout, came when he ignored defence in a bid to give his hometown crowd a spectacular victory. More significant, perhaps, was the knockdown he suffered in the opening seconds of his WBU title win over Bruce Scott. He was lucky to survive the round before finishing the Londoner in the fourth.

That near-disaster came because the occasion got to Maccarinelli, then only 22. That should not be the case this time. Haye, having dethroned Mormeck in Paris, is equally unlikely to freeze in the spotlight.

So, what will happen? Haye, possibly the harder hitter, to win early? Haye, possibly the more vulnerable, to be beaten early?

Perhaps the widespread expectation of a brief encounter is wrong. Maybe it will go long, even the full 12 rounds. If so, will Enzo’s supposedly greater stamina prove decisive? Will it go to the man with the better technique? If so, who is that?

I go for a late, maybe points, victory for the Welshman. But if you see someone stumbling towards the O2 Arena, struggling to keep hold of his pen and notepad, it’ll be me – with fingers and toes firmly crossed.

echo.sport@mediawales.co.uk