Boxing: Rivals in good shape

Mar 8 2008 Western Mail

DAVID HAYE and Enzo Maccarinelli both successfully made the weight for their world cruiserweight title unification showdown at the O2 Arena in London.

Despite fears over Haye’s ability to hit the 14st 4lb limit, the WBA and WBC champion had two pounds to spare as he tipped the scales – looking trim and confident at 14st 2lb.

WBO champion Maccarinelli followed Haye and weighed one pound lighter at 14st 1lb, before the obligatory nose-to-nose stare-out passed without incident.

Confident Maccarinelli said, “I didn’t take much notice of him; all I know is that I’ve never felt better before one of my fights – and I’m going to do a job on him.”

Haye’s manager Adam Booth insisted his man’s weight-making struggle was a myth – and vowed, “There is no way this fight is going to last more than three rounds.”

Meanwhile, former world cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson has hailed Haye’s clash with Maccarinelli as a modern-day super-fight and insisted, “The chance of this one being a stinker is absolutely zero.”

Maccarinelli claimed Nelson’s WBO version of the crown when the Sheffield man was forced to retire due to injury, and Nelson admits being envious of the pair’s big-money match-up.

And, like most observers not directly involved with either man, Nelson is in two minds about which of the two big punchers is going to reign supreme once the dust has settled at the O2 Arena.

Nelson said, “Both these fighters truly believe they are the best in the world and that’s what makes it so great. When you have two fighters who believe that, they produce the fights to remember.

“It’s like Hagler-Hearns, Leonard-Hearns and Benn-Eubank. It’s up there with them. It’s high stakes because it is going to ruin one or the other of them and that’s why it’s such a fascinating fight for everybody.”

Nelson believes Haye’s best chance is to attack Maccarinelli early with the Welshman coming equipped with a solid game-plan designed to ride the early storm and capitalise on the Londoner’s questionable stamina.

Nelson added, “David’s the bigger puncher, but Enzo is fitter and has more variation and, if he can avoid the red mist, he can win it down the stretch.

“My natural instincts tell me to go with Enzo, but I don’t think we’ve seen the best of David yet. He might get hurt, but his reaction to getting hurt has not been to quit, but to get up and want to some back.

“They both hit and they both get hurt. They both deserve the big money for taking this fight and there is every chance that it will be such a stormer that the only option is to have a rematch, and do it all again for even more.”