Haye v Maccarinelli: Head to head
By Christopher Gibbons 4/3/08
David “Hayemaker” Haye and Enzo “Big Mac” Maccarinelli duke it out for the world title of undisputed cruiserweight champion live on Setanta Sports on Saturday night. Here we preview the fight.
Boxing experts suggest that the fight between England's David Haye and Wales' Enzo Maccarinelli will be so tight that it's practically impossible to pick a winner. So here's our guide to each fighter to help you make your own mind up.
Vital statistics
There’s not a lot between the two fighters in terms of style. Both men are 27 years old, but at 6ft 4in Swansea-born Maccarinelli has a slight height advantage over bookies’ favourite, Haye, who stands at 6ft 3in.
The Londoner, naturally a heavyweight, is the heavier of the two, although this might be a disadvantage for him. There are some suggestions that trimming down to the 200lbs (14.3 stone) cruiserweight limit might give him a weaker chin, making him more susceptible to hard punches. But if he can get into close quarters, Haye could use his extra weight to bully Maccarinelli.
This extra weight has no doubt helped form his reputation for hard hitting, but Haye could have problems if he’s forced to go 12 rounds with Big Mac. The Welshman is probably the fittest opponent Haye has ever faced and has the potential to throw up to three times as many punches as the Englishman per round.
Fight record
Haye has arguably the more impressive CV. The former Versace model has won 19 of his 21 fights by knockout and can list ex-world champion Arthur Williams and former WBC and WBA title-holder Jean-Marc Mormeck, as his notable victims. The Bermondsey-based boxer has only one blemish on his record - he suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of ageing ex-WBO cruiserweight champion Carl Thompson back in 2004.
Haye has fought at heavyweight, where he sensationally knocked out Poland’s Tomasz Bonin in the first round in May last year. If he wins this fight and achieves domination in the cruiserweight division, Haye plans to step up to heavyweight again and challenge for the world championship.
Like his opponent, Maccarinelli has only ever lost one fight – journeyman Lee Swaby knocked out the Welshman when he was just 19. In total, Big Mac has won 28 of his 29 fights, 21 of them by knockout, and has beaten former WBC champions Marcelo Dominguez and Wayne Braithwaite in the last two years.
Both Haye and Maccarinelli have come off the floor to win. The Hayemaker was knocked to the canvas in the fourth in his fight with Mormeck, but stormed back to stop the Frenchman in the seventh, and took home the WBA and WBC belts. Maccarinelli was floored by Jamaican Bruce Scott in 2003, but bounced back to win by technical knockout in the fourth and got his hands on the WBU cruiserweight belt.
Training
David Haye has spent the last couple of months training in the warm climes of northern Cyprus and, for the last couple of weeks, Miami. With the fight expected to take place after 1am to cater for American TV audiences, the Londoner believes training in the US has helped him acclimatise to fight time. And while he’s been out there, Haye believes he’s been sparring with “world-class heavyweights”. Speaking about his training camp, the Bermondsey boy said, “You realise just how good the sparring is when many of the sparring partners are better or more experienced than the guy they’re helping you train for.”
In the past week, there have been reports the WBA and WBC champ has been regularly changing gyms and hotels in a bit to prevent his opponent from discovering his game plan - something Maccarinelli has denied. The Welshman’s promoter, Frank Warren, has dubbed Haye “paranoid” because of this and believes his man is in a better mental state to cope with the intense pressure of the media build-up.
While Haye has been pounding the streets in Miami, Maccarinelli has been training in the more modest surroundings of Enzo Calzaghe’s (father of super-middleweight champion, Joe) Newbridge gym in Wales. The WBO champ said: “I have to work my ass off in there just to keep warm – it’s probably colder in that gym than it is outside.” Macca’s been sparring against Calzaghe junior, Commonwealth light-middleweight champion Bradley Pryce and up and coming super-middleweight talent Nathan Cleverley. He believes training with smaller boxers is making him faster. Calzaghe senior believes Big Mac will be ready to go 12 rounds with Haye and according to Ring magazine’s trainer of the year, “Many people are expecting the fight to be over early, but I am preparing Enzo for 12 rounds. If David Haye goes 12 rounds, he will never fight again.”
War of Words
Unsurprisingly, both fighters are pretty confident about their own chances. Here’s what they’ve had to say in the build-up to Saturday’s clash:
“We’ve got two boys who pretty much fight the same way – we like to take the other person out, rip the other guy's head off and that’s what we’re going to try and do on the night” – Maccarinelli
“Look at our knockout percentages, they’re ridiculous, we don’t have to scream and shout and turn tables over, it’s going to be a war” – Haye
“I need him in the ring because I need to knock him out and shut a few people up who think they know about boxing” – Haye
“If Maccarinelli does not raise his game, the fight won’t go beyond a minute of the first” – Haye
“He can say what he likes but he’s delusional. I’ll punch a hole in his head” – Maccarinelli
“I’m a better human specimen than Enzo Maccarinelli is and that becomes clear as soon as the bell goes” – Haye
“To be honest, I don’t need to spy on Haye because I know exactly how to beat him and have done for ages. It sounds as if Haye is running scared – but there’ll be no hiding place on Saturday night” – Maccarinelli
“I have just got to turn up sober and on time” – Haye
You can catch each blow from Haye v Maccarinelli live on Setanta Sports from 10:30pm, Saturday 8 March
Please note, BT Vision's transmission of Setanta Sports ends at 3am. But if the fight overruns you can watch On Demand from 10am on Sunday morning