By James Slater: Call it a foolish decision if you want; even a highly dangerous one – but former WBO cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli of Wales has declared he will box on and not retire. Talking with This Is South Wales web site, the 30-year-old announced how he will resume his career as a light-heavyweight.
“We’ve had some really good Welsh fighters on the scene in the last couple of years but between Joe’s [Calzaghe] retirement and myself it has slowed down a little,” Enzo said. “But now there are these young guys coming through and I am coming back to fight in the light-heavyweight division because my desire is still strong. Although I have made a few mistakes in recent years, I still want to be a fighter.”
The “mistakes” Maccarinelli, 32-5(25) speaks of are the ones he made in losing fights against David Haye, Ola Afolabi, Denis Lebedev and, most recently, Alexander Frenkel. Brutally KO’d in each of these losses, Maccarinelli was simply unable to hang with a cruiserweight puncher – hence the decision to drop down to 175-pounds. But Enzo has never fought as a light-heavyweight before and no-one, not even he, knows how strong he will be at that weight. Also, having lost four of his last eight – each loss coming as he has stepped up in quality of opposition – the likeable slugger will find it hard getting people on his side as he fights on.
Most fans have been urging “Big Macc” to call it quits for some time now. Never really appearing to get back on track after the swift KO loss he suffered at the hands of Haye, Maccarinelli has looked more and more vulnerable in each successive loss. The 7th-round KO he suffered at the hands of Frenkel back in his last fight (last September) was frightening to witness.
But now, after reportedly persuading his promoter Frank Warren that he still has something to offer, Enzo gets ready to debut at light-heavyweight. Already, rumours suggest Maccarinelli will make his return on the April 2nd card Warren will promote at Wembley; while more unbelievable rumours suggest Maccarinelli could one day be matched with current Welsh star Nathan Cleverly (is “Clev” one of the “young guys coming through” that Enzo spoke of?)
Crazier things have happened in boxing, of course, but it’s pretty hard to envisage Maccarienlli facing the current WBO interim champ; even if he has racked up, say, two or three decent wins as a 175-pounder on his comeback. It’s even harder to imagine Enzo giving the talented Cleverly a competitive fight.
It seems Maccarinelli is of the belief that his less than granite chin will hold up better against smaller men. But doesn’t the former champ realise that light-heavyweights can crack pretty hard too?