Planet Extra - Enzo Maccarinelli

Mac is Back

27.11.09
Few boxing fans imagined that Enzo Maccarinelli would re-enter the ring as a boxer after his third round defeat to Russian Denis Lebedev in their WBO cruiserweight championship bout earlier this year. Enzo himself seemed to confirm our suspicions when he reacted to the match which he had previously labelled his "last chance saloon". "It looks like it [retirement], I'm just devastated. I don't think I've got it any more." The unbeaten Lebedev showed no mercy, and it was a relief to everyone at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester when the referee intervened after what the BBC Sports website described as "an uppercut and a barrage of lefts and rights that left the Welshman reeling".

However, Maccarinelli will now attempt a comeback in Newcastle on 5 December, as support for the Amir Khan versus Dmitriy Salita bill. Commenting on the bout, against an as-yet unnamed opponent, Maccarinelli admitted that retirement had been on the cards — that he had "a long think about where my career was going, but I've got my hunger back now". He added that "being a world champion meant a lot to me, and it hurt so much losing my world title ... there's no way that I'll quit before I win it back, and the plan is to have a couple of warm-up fights before stepping up to championship level in 2010". There had been talk of a comeback fight at the end of October in the Liverpool Echo Arena, again against an unnamed opponent, but the bout was mysteriously taken off the card.

There is a real danger that the Welsh fighter’s achievements could be overlooked. He started his defence of the World Cruiserweight Championship with devastating wins against Mark Hobson and Bobby Gunn. Both fights ended in the first round, the ferociousness of Maccarinelli leaving both opponents relieved to leave the ring. Further wins against Wayne Braithwaite and Mohamed Azzaoui suggested a long and distinguished career as world champion ahead. David Haye had other ideas when they fought each other at the O2 Arena in London. The match had the tagline "Bombs Away" to acknowledge the excellent record of both fighters. Haye proved the stronger fighter: the fight was stopped in the second round. And though pundits and punters alike thought the fight would be a short one, there was great debate beforehand as to who would walk away the victor.

Haye moved into the heavyweight division, having always argued that weight issues allowed him to fight at only 70-80 per cent capacity as a cruiserweight. His heavyweight bout against the titan Nikolai Valuev will go down in history as one of the most memorable boxing spectacles of all time. Time will tell if Enzo Maccarinelli will once again claim the world stage; but he has promised us that we will "be seeing an old-school Enzo up in Newcastle", an Enzo who will be back to his "knockout best".

Dilwyn Roberts-Young