David Haye v Enzo Maccarinelli - Cruiserweight Title Unification RBR

[superheavyrhun]

Carl Johanneson (27-3, 19KOs) will finally step through the ropes with Kevin Mitchell this weekend, making the fourth defence of his British Super Featherweight title in this eagerly anticipated match up. Johanneson is a heavy puncher who has proved that he can go 12-rounds in battering Ricky Burns. He is also coming off a 6-round KO in a sensational fight against Michael Gomez last October which was a contender for British fight of the year. However, when making the step up against Leva Kirakosyan for the European title, Johanneson was demolished by big hooks and fought bravely for four rounds before it finished. The Leeds fighter will be the away man in London, but if action replicates his bout against Gomez, neither set of fans will go home disappointed.

Kevin Mitchell (25-0, 18KOs) is an equally spiteful puncher who has dispatched British and world journeymen alike with relative ease so far, and has been calling for a bout with Johanneson for quite some time. Mitchell is on a streak of three KO finishes in the first half of fights, and is coming off an easy third-round KO of Edison Torres who stepped in when Johanneson originally withdrew from their first matchup on 12 January. An exciting fighter himself, Johanneson will be the toughest test so far for Mitchell, and will need a win if he is to show himself to have the potential for even higher honours, as promoter Frank Warren believes he is.

An explosive fight between two punchers, in a night of explosive fights between two punchers!

[superheavyrhun]

David Haye (20-1, 19KOs) is making his final appearance at Cruiserweight, and is hoping to make the step up to heavyweight as the undisputed champion of the 14'4" division with a win over Maccarinelli. A natural puncher who has to boil down to make the weight, Haye's best chance of victory will probably be in the earlier rounds when he is freshest, and will need to find the gaps in Maccarinelli's defence and land the big shots he is famed for. Haye is a longtime European titlist at cruiserweight who KO'd a WBC ranked heavyweight in his debut amongst the big boys in one round. However, his crowning glory so far was the enthralling manner of his victory over Jean Marc Mormeck last November when he rose from the floor, dazed and seemingly destined for defeat in the fourth round to dethrone the French champion in a seventh round KO. Haye will probably go into the fight a narrow favourite, and much could indeed depend on how much he has lost in terms of strength, stamina and endurance in making the cruiserweight limit. Haye's only defeat came at the hands of Carl Thompson early in his career in only his 11th fight, where Haye seemed to have Thompson in trouble early on, but gave too much too soon, and was eventually KOd in the fifth round.

Enzo Maccarinelli (28-1, 21KOs) will be bringing the third title to this particular party, having completed four defences of his WBO strap, and having improved greatly since joining Enzo Calzaghe's stable in 2006. Maccarinelli's experience of the later rounds could give him the edge if the fight goes to the second half, and has shown good defence and boxing skills as well as power in his points win over big-hitting former champ Wayne Braithwaite last summer. The sole blemish on his record was a KO defeat to journeyman Lee Swaby in only his fourth fight, which Maccarinelli claims to have learnt a lot from, and helped make him the fighter he is today.

[Kev]

Great stuff Rhun. I'm really pumped for this fight. Unfortunately my mate has chosen this weekend as his stag weekend and I have to go to Prague for 4 days and so will miss it.

Saturday night we are booked into a Steak and Tits night with 2 strippers to be passed around between 8 of us and then a trip to the finest brothel.

I actually want to pass on this and find an English sports pub so I can watch this instead.

[bzkfn]

As I've mentioned a few times before, I'm heading to London this Saturday to watch the fight as thought it was far too good an opportunity to miss. It's a difficult one as I like both guys and as far as I see, at this point in time they are very evenly matched. You have to feel that as good as this is for British Boxing, the outcome will benefit one division, and hinder the other. If Enzo wins, its great for the Cruiserweight Division but may seriously hinder the confidence of Haye moving up to Heavyweight. If Haye wins though, this will hurt the Cruiser division as he is almost certain to vacate 3 big world titles, and add a defeat to one of the best in the divisions records. Although having a big exciting puncher will only help the most glamorous division in boxing that is in desperate need of some fresh blood.

As an English guy, I'm rooting for Haye and my feeling is that he is a better fighter than Enzo so I've gone with a Haye KO. This is wityh my fair share of doubts though, as I worry that David finding it difficult to make weight could benefit Enzo the longer the fight goes on.

Tactically, I believe Enzo will adopt a similar tactical style to what he did against Braithwaite. Enzo will use fast hands and a high guard and try and outbox Haye, dragging him into the later rounds for the KO. Haye on the other hand is looking to prove superiority in a big way, and I imagine will go for the early KO. I believe Enzo won't be able to avoid the big shots, and I think we'll see the end around round 7.

I'll take the camera with me, and post some vids & phots when I get back.

Oh, and rep to Rhun, for setting this one up.

[donnydarkoIRL]

I would really like to give a nice crisp analysis of all of the potentially great fights that we have on offer this week. However, I'm far to distracted by the "main event" so to speak.
Enzo and David are to evidentally big hitters. Both men have the power to anihalate any man in the division and together they present an exciting match up.

However, it is my view that this power may be the cause of a disappointment, as both men are aware of the others power prior to entering the ring. They could provide fireworks, but this surely would end in a knockout in the early rounds...Is their a minimum time frame for a great fight? It could also see both men being overly cautious, afraid of fatigue in the later rounds or a flash knockdown in the early rounds.
I see Haye starting Hot, Enzo starting Cold and aimining for the later ounds. Haye fading if it goes past 5 and then Enzo will ignite.
I don't see the two guys at full steam at the one time.

So will it be a great fight? I'm not so sure.
Will it be a great finish? Almost certainly.

Praying for an Enzo stoppage Round 10.

[Bomp]

Good point by BZ about each winner being detrimental to particular division, probably the best result would be an Enzo win by close decision with Haye able to blame the weight thing. Like you I'm being patriotic and picking Enzo by KO, but I don't dislike Haye at all. It might be bluffing or something, but I get the feeling from all Haye's quotes that he's putting all his eggs in one basket and going for the early knockout, maybe that's just what he wants Enzo to think.

Both guys IMO will be going into unknown territorry against their best opponents to date on Saturday, though David was in a big fight last time out, I feel there'll be more pressurre on him this time being a the favourite. I'm picking Enzo toknockout a tiring Haye late on, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[Fenster]

You guys that think the fight is going late can get some tasty odds with the bookies, they're position is firmly in the short night camp.

I'm almost looking forward to Mitchell-Johanneson as much as the big one. Before the scheduled last fight I fancied the fresher Mitchell, but changed my mind because what exactly does Mitchell do that makes him that bit better class? He's pretty ordinary, no?

The more seasoned Carl to pull a Gomez-Arthur job.