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© Tom Casino / Showtime Boxing
One of Britain’s most eagerly anticipated fights takes place this Saturday when Welshman Enzo Maccarinelli faces English rival David Haye in a World Cruiserweight Championship unification match up.
At stake are the Welshman’s WBO and the Englishman’s WBA/WBC Titles. The venue is the magnificent 02 Arena in London.
Some are calling this matchup the biggest dustup Britain has seen in 20 years. I for one would agree. In terms of anticipation, this one is right up with the likes of Nigel Benn vs. Chris Eubank. Its also just as tough to call a winner!.
Haye, from Bermondsey, London has just the one defeat in 20 bouts when he lost to veteran Carl Thompson in five rounds in 2004. That night, Haye made the mistake of going all out against Thompson and ran out of steam.
Since then, Haye has not made the same mistake. As for Maccarinelli, he too has lost just the once early in his career in his fourth professional fight. Like Haye, Enzo has not looked back since.
In analysing this bout, its amazing the similarities between the two men. Both are 27 years of age, both stand around the 6 foot 3 – 6 foot 4 mark. Both have the one defeat and both can undoubtedly bang.
Haye’s biggest win came in his last fight in November when away from home, he rose from an early canvassing to knock out veteran Jean Marc Mormeck to win the WBA/WBC Cruiserweight titles.
As for Maccarinelli, the WBO Champion seems to be getting better and better with each fight. For me, his best performance came in July of last year when he totally outboxed former champion Wayne Braithwaite over 12 rounds.
Out of the all the preview analysis articles I have written, this is certainly the toughest one to call. Much has been made of Haye’s apparent weight problems. After winning the titles against Mormeck, Haye himself stated that he was moving straight up to the heavyweight division. Maccarinelli certainly seems the most comfortable at the weight.
Power of course is the big equaliser in boxing and both men have that in abundance. This fight could end very early.
Picking a winner for this one could be done by the toss of a coin. I think whatever happens come Saturday night, one thing that will surprise me is if the fight goes into the later rounds. Everything seems to point to a short nights work.
For the reasons stated above, I’m gonna go for Enzo to be the man to end the argument, sending Haye up to the heavyweight division but its a prediction made with no confidence whatsoever!
