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Letter to Frank Warren
Saw this on Franks website before Christmas i thought it would have been deleted by now gives him a few home truths
Dear Mr. Warren,
I have to say that I was disappointed to read your column in the Sun newspaper dated 17th November 2007. The general gist of the article was that David Haye had yet to prove himself at cruiserweight and you insisted the way to do that was to take on Enzo Maccarinelli, your fighter. Now I understand Mr. Warren that you are trying to get your fighter a bit of publicity off the back off another fighters good win, but frankly I found some of things you said outrageous. I am here to write a reply to what I considered a disrespectful article, and to point out to you the many ironies that appear to have escaped you while writing this article. I will quote extensively.
Mr. Warren, you commented ‘[The fight at heavyweight with Haye] is never going to happen because Enzo who walks around at the cruiserweight 200lbs, would be giving away two stone’
Well I know for a fact David Haye walks around at 230lbs in excellent condition. While you point out it may be unfair to ask Enzo to bulk up to the tune of two stone this argument works both ways. It’s unfair to ask Haye, a two belt world champ to lose two stone again. There is far more precedent for these sort of gains rather than losses.. Roy Jones, James Toney and Juan Carlos Gomez are smaller men that Enzo who have campaigned with success at heavyweight. When Jones tried to go down again losing a lot of weight he suffered. Such weight fluctuations must take their toll on Haye. The only fair thing is to hold it at a catch weight of around 215lbs, but what is the point? No titles would be on the line. If Enzo were by far and away the second best fighter in the division I believe this fight could be made at a catch, but both Cunningham with a better belt, and Bell with a better record have claims to that mantle along of course with Mormeck.
You also commented that ‘It’s like asking Ricky Hatton to step up and fight Joe Calzaghe’. This is frankly a ridiculous comparison to make. The higher the weights go the less important discrepancies in weight become. I could counter you by pointing out that Chagaev fought Valuev and gave away masses in height and weight. Roy Jones Jr. bulk up from 175lbs to face John Ruiz at heavyweight, Roberto Duran was originally a lightweight and bulked to fight at middleweight, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has hopped up five weight divisions. The cruiserweight band has always been the largest and is currently 25lbs, compared to say the middleweight band which is 6lbs, and super middle which is 8lbs. So as you can see comparing a light welter and super middleweight isn’t satisfactory, and isn’t the same as comparing a cruiserweight and heavyweight. In short the bigger the man, the easier it is to put on weight, and this is a fight Enzo needs, not Haye, so if he wants it I’m afraid you’ll have to come out of your comfort zone and take a few risks.
Another quote from your article, and one of the ones which I wish to take issue with most ‘If Haye knew this was going to be his last fight at cruiserweight then why didn’t he fight Maccarinelli? That was the fight the British fans wanted and he and his team constantly avoided’
That Hayes handlers didn’t want the fight may be true, I don’t know. But the idea that he would fight Enzo Maccarinelli instead Jean Marc Mormeck if given the opportunity is ludicrous, and in fact sir it made me seriously question your undoubted ability as a boxing pundit. I understand that Enzo is your fighter and you must be partisan, but you think Haye should give up the chance to fight the best cruiserweight in the world, for two proper, respected belts, the ring magazine number 1 position and the opportunity to be regarded as undisputed champion. In exchange for this chance he should fight Enzo in Wales for a WBO belt that is largely regarded as a joke in the USA, against a fighter who is largely unknown in the USA, in fact a fighter who has fought abroad just once against a man with an 8-11-2 record, and never fought in the USA. If that would have been your serious advice to Haye if you had been his manager sir then I wonder you have any fighters in your stable at all. Although it is not your management style to have your charges actively seek out and face the best fighters in the division unless under extreme duress you must understand that other managers handle things differently. This is the reason why Haye has achieved more in his career than your man at cruiserweight, Enzo.
You further commented Mr. Warren that ‘Haye knows in his heart of hearts that Maccarinelli has the beating of him at or around cruiserweight’. I fail to see what you base this on other than a completely partisan judgment. It is utterly ridiculous and remarks like this will serve only to discredit you and your fighters. You have been feeding the talented Enzo Maccarinelli by and large awful fighters. Bobby Gunn, Mohammed Azzaoui, an aging Marcelo Fabian Dominguez and a mooted bout with ancient Ezra Sellers which fortunately fell through. Surely even you must blush sir when you see that one of your hand picked opponents is deemed too poor by the authorities to even share the same ring as your fighter. I can only imagine Enzo's frustration, as when you matched him a past his best, inactive but still dangerous Wayne Braithwaite he proved he could box very well and has come on in leaps and bounds under Enzo Calzaghe. He rose to the occasion very well, and rather than rewarding him with a bout against Cunningham or Bell you offered him a 39 year old who would have to blow the dust off his gloves, then a late replacement who looked for the canvas at the first opportunity. While you have been taking money off the good people of Wales for these embarrassing fiasco’s Haye has been cleaning up the European scene knocking out Vincenzo Rossito, Alexander Gurov at the time WBA No. 2, undefeated Dane Lasse Johannsen and WBC No. 2 Giacobbe Fragomeni and now world No. 1 Jean Marc Mormeck. Hayes ledger is vastly superior, so to claim he would feel intimidated or think he would lose to Enzo when he has defeated better and more proven fighters is just silly.
You make the comment that ‘I offered [Haye] a no strings attached deal to fight the welshman on the undercard of Calzaghe’s unification’. I’m not doubting the truthfulness of this staement, although I saw no coverage in the papers or on the internet at the time, so I can’t be sure how serious this offer was. You mention Haye stood to earn more money from the fight with Enzo, but my guess is you went in after he had signed to fight Mormeck, knowing he would prefer the bigger fight to the bigger purse. In terms of raising his profile on a world level and garnering respect as a fighter who seeks out the best and backs up his talk the Mormeck fight was leagues ahead of one with Enzo. As I stated previously, had you been Hayes manager and arranged a fight with Enzo instead of Mormeck when you had the options then I’m staggered you have any fighters left. You also commented that a fight with Mormeck could be done easily if he won, but it would be more difficult with Haye. If a fight with Mormeck was so easy to make why wasn’t this fight arranged months ago? Enzo could have been fighting Mormeck rather than Hobson, Dominguez or Bobby Gunn. That way had he won Haye could have enforced his mandatory and fought Enzo for all three of the titles. It just needed you to take a risk with your fighter, something I can see you are not fond of.
You then go on to criticise Haye’s chin, and cast doubt on his ability to mix it at heavyweight, saying ‘you can’t put muscles on chins’. Well you are more than entitle to your opinion, you have seen a lot of boxing and certainly know more about boxing than 99.9% of people, and certainly more than me, but you must see the irony of the statement when you are toting fighters with poor chins as world beaters. Amir Khan was rocked against light hitting journeyman Rachid Drilzane and floored heavily by a man with just 8 knockouts out of 28 wins. Enzo himself has been knocked out by journeyman Lee Swaby and put on his seat by average powered Mark Hobson. I don’t see any shame in being put down by Mormeck, a man with 66% of his wins by KO and a genuine world class operator. Your doubts about Hayes chin may be correct, I know a lot of people think he doesn’t take a punch well, but to brand him as damaged goods when you have two top fighters who have arguably far worse chins seems ironic to me. Furthermore Hayes game at heavyweight will be based around movement, it could be argued a rock solid chin at heavy is less important than at other weights because if any heavy catches you flush he will put you in serious trouble. Even monsters like Sam Peter and David Tua are rocked when caught flush by a 17 stone man.
It the final statement with which you finish your article that really inspired me to write this open letter. You round out this article by saying to Haye ‘So do British boxing a favour – vacate the titles so Enzo Maccarinelli can try to do what you couldn’t ; Unify the belts’. I find this insulting and laughable in equal measure. Haye has done British boxing a world of good by going abroad, beating the top man in the division in a famous victory and bringing home two proper belts, not WBU rubbish or other trinkets but proper championship belts. How can you claim that you have done British boxing any favours by the way you protect fighters to the point of lunacy? Ricky Hatton had to leave you in order to realise his talent, Joe Calzaghe had to spend his prime fighting nightclub bouncers like Miguel Jiminez and no marks like Tocker Pudwill and wait until his mid thirties for decent fights. Arguably one of the greatest British fighters of all time has his ability and his legacy question because you sir have fed him rubbish to line your pockets when he should have been challenging top fighters. You Mr. Warren are the antithesis of what is good for British boxing. There is, however, still time to mend your ways. Release your best fighters and let them go to managers like Mick Hennessy or Frank Maloney, men who aren’t afraid to take risks and match their fighters fairly. My proof for these statements? Haye has been a pro for three years and eight fights fewer than Enzo and yet he has achieved more in his career. I implore you to not flush Maccarinelli's career down the toilet and start getting him some fights against good fighters. That way you won’t be clinging onto David Haye’s coattails as his career soars upward and onward.
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