Team Haye step up attempts to make cruiserweight clash a reality

28.12.06 – As negotiations for a blockbuster showdown between cruiserweights David Haye and Enzo Maccarinelli head towards a standstill, Londoner Haye, promoter Frank Maloney and manager Adam Booth are making one last attempt to salvage the mouth-watering contest. Team Haye are offering Maccarinelli and the Welshman’s promoter Frank Warren an ‘open’ set of fresh negotiations. Maloney said: “Frank Warren knows that David is free for one fight, to box on his show in Cardiff in April, if that is what it takes to get this fight on.”

Haye’s trainer/manager Adam Booth further explained: “The idea is for myself, David and Frank Maloney to meet up with Enzo Maccarinelli and Frank Warren at an arranged location and thrash out the negotiations for this fight as soon as possible.”

Team Haye also hope Warren will accept an invitation to a press conference immediately after the negotiations. They hope that, whether negotiations are fruitful or not, all of them will greet a bevy of British press to explain why the fight has or has not been made..

“We want to simplify the whole process,” Booth stated. “ We want to make sure that everyone is immediately aware of what transpires from the negotiating table and subsequently, if the fight doesn’t happen, knows exactly who is ducking who.”

“The only reason for this meet-up not to happen is if Frank Warren and Enzo Maccarinelli decline our invitation. Though that will be a massive disappointment, it will also show who genuinely wants the fight to happen and who wants to avoid the fight at all costs.”

As far as European champion Haye is concerned, the fight can’t come soon enough.

“I’ve been dieting all through Christmas in the hope that this fight happens,“ the 18-1 (17) Haye said. “April 2007 is my only timeframe for this fight. After that month passes, my career schedule will only include O’Neil Bell at cruiserweight. If this fight isn’t signed by January 7, 2007, then it will never happen.

“We have offered Enzo a career highest purse of £150,000, and we are now increasing that to £180,000. Enzo labelled the £150,000 offer ‘derisory’, but what he must remember is that when O’Neil Bell and Jean-Marc Mormeck competed in a unification fight in January 2006 they both got £103,000. When that’s taken into account, it’s clear to see we are serious about making this fight.”

Such is Haye’s desire to simply make the contest a happening, the Bermondsey fighter is eager to discard titles and rankings.

“Let’s get one thing straight; I am going out of my way to try and make this fight,” he continued. “If it weren’t for the fans demanding this match-up I wouldn’t bother with it. I’m next in line for the WBC title, and, I’m sure most would agree, the WBO title is a major step down from the WBC championship. After all, Enzo won his WBO belt against a faded ex-British champion he’d already beaten (Mark Hobson).

“As far as this fight with Maccarinelli is concerned, titles are needless. It’s the fight that matters. I’m happy to fight him no strings attached.

“The incentives are all in Enzo’s favour. He has openly said he is chasing a fight with O’Neil Bell, and a win over me – with the rankings I have – would let him leapfrog the rest of the queue. By beating me Maccarinelli gets the chance to secure a WBC mandatory position as well as prove he’s the best cruiserweight in Europe. What more does he want?”

The incentives for Haye? The European king simply can’t pass up a challenge.

“Frank Warren tried to take the shine off my win over Giacobbe Fragomeni (in November) by saying I had dodged Maccarinelli and that his fighter would destroy me. As soon as I saw that I was determined to make the fight happen and prove him wrong. Warren clearly didn’t expect that response. He just wanted to stick some throwaway lines in his newspaper column and hope it did the job (of discrediting Haye’s career-best win over Fragomeni).

“We called his bluff. I’m always up for a challenge, but is Enzo Maccarinelli? I’ve proven myself by fighting WBC-ranked fighters, unbeaten contenders and experienced ex-world champions. I’ve taken risks in my career. Can Enzo look himself in the mirror and say the same thing? I very much doubt it.”

Team Haye hope that, after months of back-and-forth counter claims, a Haye-Maccarinelli clash will be given the green light for April – whether on a Sky Sports-televised Maloney promotion or a Sports Network show on ITV.

“We want this fight now that they (Warren and Maccarinelli) have made rash claims about Enzo’s chances of victory” Booth concluded. “If Frank Warren and Enzo Maccarinelli feel the same way, we fully expect them to accept our invitation, negotiate, agree terms, get this fight signed and then meet the press to announce it.”

“We await their response and hope that they are as determined as us to make this bout happen!”