Enzo Maccarinelli
Enzo Maccarinelli (born 20 August 1980) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2016. He held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2006 to 2008, and the European and British cruiserweight titles between 2010 and 2012.
| Enzo Maccarinelli | |
|---|---|
 Maccarinelli (right) and Lebedev, 2009 | |
| Statistics | |
| Nickname(s) | Big Mac |
| Weight(s) | |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) |
| Reach | 74 in (188 cm) |
| Nationality | Welsh |
| Born | 20 August 1980 Swansea, Wales |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 49 |
| Wins | 41 |
| Wins by KO | 33 |
| Losses | 8 |
Professional career
Early career
On 12 May 2000, Maccarinelli suffered his first defeat at the hands of southpaw Lee Swaby. Swaby, from Lincoln, England, sent Maccarinelli down with a crushing right hand, knocking Maccarinelli down in the third round. Maccarinelli never took the rematch against Swaby.
On 28 June 2003, Maccarinelli, known as "the Big Mac" won the vacant WBU cruiserweight title when he defeated Bruce Scott by fourth-round TKO.[1] He made seven successful defences of his WBU title before vacating.
WBO cruiserweight champion
On 8 July 2006, Maccarinelli fought against former World Boxing Council (WBC) cruiserweight champion Marcelo Fabian Domínguez for the WBO interim cruiserweight title. Maccarinelli won the title with a ninth-round TKO.[1] The natural progression was a title fight against the then WBO title holder, Johnny Nelson. Due to several injuries to Nelson this matchup never transpired, and on 22 September 2006 he announced his retirement, automatically relinquishing the belt and allowing Maccarinelli to be promoted to full champion status.[2]
Title defences
On 14 October 2006 Maccarinelli made his first defence of the WBO title, stopping former opponent Mark Hobson in the first round in a fight that was widely expected to last the distance. This was followed by another first round win over Bobby Gunn on 7 April 2007 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The Gunn fight was stopped with just :25 seconds remaining in the first round by referee Mark Nelson, even though Gunn was not down and only had a small cut. It was widely and erroneously reported that Maccarinelli had broken Bobby Gunn's nose, but it was a small cut to the bridge of the nose that caused the bleeding. Gunn's nose was not broken and most observers at ringside thought the fight was stopped prematurely.
On 21 July 2007 Maccarinelli defended his WBO cruiserweight championship against former WBC champ Wayne Braithwaite and won by unanimous decision, after dominating the match. On 3 November 2007 Maccarinelli successfully defended his WBO cruiserweight title against Mohamed Azzaoui winning by TKO in the 4th Round.
'Bombs Away' and loss of title
Maccarinelli's next fight was an all-British unification fight against the WBA/WBC champion David Haye. The fight took place on 8 March 2008 at the O2 Arena, London and was much hyped in the weeks running up to the event, being given the tagline "bombs away" (referring to the high KO percentages and punching power both men boasted). Maccarinelli lost the fight and his WBO belt when he was knocked out in the 2nd round. A right hand by Haye knocked Maccarinelli down towards the end of the round and although he was able to get back up it was on unsteady legs and the referee stepped in to stop the fight.[3]
After the fight Haye announced that he would be moving up to the heavyweight division with immediate effect and would therefore be vacating his newly won belts. Because of this Maccarinelli received an immediate opportunity to reclaim his WBO belt in a matchup against undefeated American Jonathon Banks for the now vacant championship, but due to injury Banks was forced to pull out. After several replacements were unable to fight, Maccarinelli instead stepped up to heavyweight to face Matthew Ellis. Maccarinelli won after a 2nd-round KO in what was his debut at the higher weight.[4] After the fight Frank Warren announced that Maccarinelli would face Banks in a re-scheduled bout for the WBO belt during February 2009.
Once again the Banks fight proved to be a non-starter (Banks opted to make an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to win the IBF cruiserweight title against Tomasz Adamek) and instead Maccarinelli's next fight was against the American-based Londoner Ola Afolabi for the "interim" WBO title. The fight took place on 14 March at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, on the undercard of the Amir Khan vs Marco Antonio Barrera bout. Maccarinelli was favoured by most observers to win, however things did not go as expected as Maccarinelli struggled in the early rounds and was staggered in the 3rd round by a short chopping right hand from the slick Afolabi. Despite managing to recover and win the majority of the next few rounds he was knocked out by Afolabi in round 9 when a huge overhand right put him on the canvas and forced the referee to call off the fight.[5]
Lebedev fight, retirement, and return
Maccarinelli's next fight was against the unbeaten Russian Denis Lebedev on 18 July 2009. As with the Afolabi contest the fight took place at the M.E.N. Arena on the undercard of an Amir Khan fight, this time Khan's WBA light-welterweight title challenge against Andreas Kotelnik. From the very beginning of the fight Maccarinelli struggled with the power of his opponent and by the end of the second round his right eye had swollen completely shut from the punches landed by Lebedev. In the third round Lebedev rocked Maccarinelli with an uppercut which landed cleanly through his guard and after a further barrage of unanswered punches the referee stepped in and called a stop to the fight.[6]
Before the fight Maccarinelli had admitted that the contest represented "the last chance saloon" in terms of getting his career back on track, following 2 KO losses in his last 3 fights, and talking immediately after the defeat he hinted that this latest setback could signal the end of his boxing career. In an interview with his local paper a few days later Maccarinelli apparently confirmed his intention to retire from the sport,[7] although he retracted this in a later interview with the same source.[8]
Maccarinelli began his latest comeback attempt on another Amir Khan undercard, this time Khan's WBA Light-Welterweight title defence against on 5 December at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle. His opponent was the relatively unknown Hungarian journeyman Krisztian Jaksi.[9] who provided little resistance and was knocked out in the 1st round.[10] Maccarinelli managed a second consecutive 1st-round KO victory against Hungarian opposition when he defeated Zoltan Czekus at the Echo Arena Liverpool on 13 March 2010.
European cruiserweight title shot
Following his two quick comeback wins Maccarinelli's next fight took place on 27 April 2010 when he fought Russian prospect Alexander Kotlobay in St Petersburg for the vacant European cruiserweight title. Despite now being the fighter that had to travel and fight on someone else's patch, Maccarinelli scored his third consecutive quick victory when he knocked Kotlobay down with an overhand right before the referee stepped in to end the fight at 2:15 of the first round.[11]
His first defence of his newly won title came as part of Frank Warren's "Magnificent Seven" fight card, which took place on 18 September 2010 at the LG Arena in Birmingham.[12] His opponent for this defence was the undefeated Ukrainian prospect Alexander Frenkel. Despite a tentative opening round Maccarinelli improved and managed to rock his opponent in the fourth round with a right hand. A clash of heads in the sixth led to a cut developing over his right eye, however the fight still appeared to be going Maccarinelli's way until he was knocked down heavily towards the end of round seven by a left hook from Frenkel. Despite managing to rise by the count of nine he was extremely unsteady and appeared to be in no position to defend himself. However the referee allowed the bout to continue, only for it to be stopped a few seconds later when a three punch combination from Frenkel led to a second knockdown. The final blows were struck with such ferocity that Maccarinelli was knocked unconscious and required oxygen and medical attention before being able to leave the ring. At the time of the fight there was heavy criticism from both journalists and fellow boxers at the decision by the referee to allow the fight to continue after the first knockdown, when it was clear that Maccarinelli was in no position to defend himself.[13][14][15]
As with the aftermath of the Afolabi and Lebedev defeats there were also been calls for Maccarinelli to retire from the ring, something which the boxer himself admitted to the press was a distinct possibility following his fourth KO loss in eight fights.[16]
Move to light-heavyweight
After a period of inactivity following the Frenkel defeat, in February 2011 Maccarinelli announced that rather than retiring he would instead be dropping down in weight to compete in the 175 lb light-heavyweight division, with a view to having his first fight at the weight limit later on in the year.[17]
Several months later he made the further announcement that he would once again be working with former coach Enzo Calzaghe, who was part of Maccarinelli's team during his successful run at cruiserweight.[18] At the same time he also expressed a desire to fight for a world title at the new weight limit in the future, and in particular put forward the idea of an all Welsh title fight between himself and current WBO belt holder Nathan Cleverly.[19]
Exactly 14 months after his last in-ring appearance Maccarinelli's first fight at the new weight limit took place at the York Hall in Bethnal Green on 18 November 2011. As with 2 of his previous 4 fights at cruiserweight the opponent was a Hungarian fighter, this time the undefeated (and relatively unknown) Gyorgy Marosi. Maccarinelli emerged victorious, scoring a 1st-round TKO victory after just 99 seconds against an overmatched Marosi.[20]
Following the successful debut at 175 lbs Maccarinelli reiterated his desire to fight for a world title at 175 lbs and again made reference to an all Welsh bout with Cleverly, although ruled out the prospect of such a matchup occurring straight away.[21]
In July 2012, Maccarinelli was banned for six months after testing positive for Methylhexaneamine.[22]
Return to cruiserweight and final retirement
In 2015 Maccarinelli returned to cruiserweight and in December knocked out the then 46-year-old Roy Jones Jr. in the fourth round at the VTB Ice Palace in Moscow.[23] In June 2016 he fought Dmytro Kucher for the vacant European cruiserweight title, but lost by TKO in the first round, subsequently announcing his retirement from boxing.[24]
Professional boxing record
| 49 fights | 41 wins | 8 losses |
| By knockout | 33 | 8 |
| By decision | 8 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49 | Loss | 41–8 |  |
TKO | 1 (12), 2:48 | 10 Jun 2016 |  |
For vacant European cruiserweight title |
| 48 | Win | 41–7 |  |
KO | 4 (12), 1:59 | 12 Dec 2015 |  |
|
| 47 | Win | 40–7 |  |
TKO | 5 (10), 2:00 | 10 Oct 2015 | |
|
| 46 | Win | 39–7 |  |
TKO | 1 (8), 0:48 | 14 Mar 2015 | |
|
| 45 | Loss | 38–7 |  |
RTD | 5 (12), 3:00 | 5 Apr 2014 | |
For WBA light-heavyweight title |
| 44 | Win | 38–6 | |
TKO | 7 (10), 1:46 | 7 Dec 2013 | |
|
| 43 | Win | 37–6 | |
TKO | 11 (12), 2:44 | 17 Aug 2013 | |
Won Commonwealth light-heavyweight title |
| 42 | Win | 36–6 | |
KO | 6 (6), 2:18 | 20 Apr 2013 | |
|
| 41 | Loss | 35–6 | |
TKO | 2 (12), 2:15 | 11 Sep 2012 | |
For Commonwealth light-heavyweight title |
| 40 | Win | 35–5 | |
UD | 12 | 23 Mar 2012 | |
Won British cruiserweight title |
| 39 | Win | 34–5 |  |
TKO | 2 (8), 2:50 | 25 Feb 2012 | |
|
| 38 | Win | 33–5 | |
TKO | 1 (8), 1:39 | 18 Nov 2011 | |
|
| 37 | Loss | 32–5 | |
KO | 7 (12), 2:30 | 18 Sep 2010 | |
Lost European cruiserweight title |
| 36 | Win | 32–4 | |
TKO | 1 (12), 2:15 | 27 Apr 2010 | |
Won European cruiserweight title |
| 35 | Win | 31–4 | |
TKO | 1 (8), 2:04 | 12 Mar 2010 | |
|
| 34 | Win | 30–4 | |
KO | 1 (6), 1:34 | 5 Dec 2009 | |
|
| 33 | Loss | 29–4 | |
TKO | 3 (12), 2:20 | 18 Jul 2009 | |
For vacant WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight title |
| 32 | Loss | 29–3 | |
KO | 9 (12), 1:50 | 14 Mar 2009 | |
For WBO interim cruiserweight title |
| 31 | Win | 29–2 | |
TKO | 2 (10), 1:28 | 6 Dec 2008 | |
|
| 30 | Loss | 28–2 | |
TKO | 2 (12), 2:04 | 8 Mar 2008 | |
Lost WBO cruiserweight title; For WBA (Super), WBC, The Ring, and lineal cruiserweight titles |
| 29 | Win | 28–1 |  |
TKO | 4 (12), 0:58 | 3 Nov 2007 | |
Retained WBO cruiserweight title |
| 28 | Win | 27–1 |  |
UD | 12 | 21 Jul 2007 | |
Retained WBO cruiserweight title |
| 27 | Win | 26–1 | |
TKO | 1 (12), 2:35 | 7 Apr 2007 | |
Retained WBO cruiserweight title |
| 26 | Win | 25–1 | |
TKO | 1 (12), 1:11 | 14 Oct 2006 | |
Retained WBO cruiserweight title |
| 25 | Win | 24–1 |  |
TKO | 9 (12), 0:58 | 8 Jul 2006 | |
Won WBO interim cruiserweight title |
| 24 | Win | 23–1 | |
UD | 12 | 4 Mar 2006 | |
Retained WBU cruiserweight title |
| 23 | Win | 22–1 | |
KO | 1 (10), 1:38 | 26 Nov 2005 |  |
|
| 22 | Win | 21–1 |  |
TKO | 1 (8), 1:55 | 4 Jun 2005 | |
|
| 21 | Win | 20–1 | |
TKO | 4 (12), 1:04 | 21 Jan 2005 | |
Retained WBU cruiserweight title |
| 20 | Win | 19–1 |  |
KO | 3 (12), 2:05 | 3 Sep 2004 | |
Retained WBU cruiserweight title |
| 19 | Win | 18–1 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
UD | 12 | 3 Jul 2004 | |
Retained WBU cruiserweight title |
| 18 | Win | 17–1 | |
TKO | 8 (12), 2:37 | 21 Feb 2004 | |
Retained WBU cruiserweight title |
| 17 | Win | 16–1 |  |
KO | 1 (12), 1:30 | 6 Dec 2003 | |
Retained WBU cruiserweight title |
| 16 | Win | 15–1 |  |
KO | 1 (12), 1:10 | 13 Sep 2003 | |
Retained WBU cruiserweight title |
| 15 | Win | 14–1 | |
TKO | 4 (12), 2:49 | 18 Jun 2003 | |
Won vacant WBU cruiserweight title |
| 14 | Win | 13–1 | |
TKO | 1 (12), 1:38 | 29 Mar 2003 | |
|
| 13 | Win | 12–1 | |
PTS | 4 | 18 Jan 2003 | |
|
| 12 | Win | 11–1 | |
TKO | 2 (4), 2:38 | 12 Oct 2002 | |
|
| 11 | Win | 10–1 | |
TKO | 2 (4), 1:51 | 17 Aug 2002 | |
|
| 10 | Win | 9–1 | |
PTS | 4 | 20 Apr 2002 | |
|
| 9 | Win | 8–1 |  |
TKO | 2 (6), 2:18 | 12 Feb 2002 | |
|
| 8 | Win | 7–1 | |
TKO | 2 (6), 2:38 | 15 Dec 2001 | |
|
| 7 | Win | 6–1 | |
TKO | 2 (4) | 9 Oct 2001 | |
|
| 6 | Win | 5–1 | |
KO | 1 (4), 1:15 | 18 Apr 2001 | |
|
| 5 | Win | 4–1 | |
PTS | 4 | 11 Dec 2000 | |
|
| 4 | Loss | 3–1 | |
KO | 3 (4), 2:35 | 12 May 2000 | |
|
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | |
TKO | 3 (4), 2:52 | 26 Feb 2000 | |
|
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | |
TKO | 1 (4), 0:35 | 11 Dec 1999 | |
|
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | |
PTS | 4 | 2 Oct 1999 | |
References
- BoxRec.com editors. "Enzo Maccarinelli." Boxrec.com. URL accessed 11 July 2006.
- Fightnews.com editors. "Nelson relinquishes title!" Archived 12 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine 22 September 2006. Fightnews.com. URL accessed 22 September 2006.
- BBC Sport | Boxing | Awesome Haye stops Maccarinelli
- BBC Sport | Boxing | Maccarinelli stops Ellis in two
- BBC Sport | Boxing | Maccarinelli suffers KO loss
- BBC Sport | Boxing | Maccarinelli Faces The End After Loss
- Russian Loss Signals The End For Enzo
- Enzo: I'm not going to give up yet
- BBC Sport | Boxing | Jaksi up for Maccarinelli return
- BBC Sport | Boxing | Maccarinelli beats up Jaksi in first round in Newcastle
- BBC Sport | Boxing | Enzo Maccarinelli beats Kotlobay to claim Euro title
- "Frankwarren.tv | Latest News | Mega card for September". Archived from the original on 7 July 2010. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
- Maccarinelli knocked out cold after referee lets Frenkel punch on
- Daily Mirror | Frank Warren's anger at Macca KO referee
- BBC Sport | Boxing | Maccarinelli ponders boxing retirement
- BBC Sport | Enzo Maccarinelli drops down to fight on
- BBC Sport | Maccarinelli back with coach Enzo Calzaghe.
- BBC Sport | Maccarinelli eyes Cleverly world title bout
- BBC Sport | Enzo Maccarinelli returns with first round win
- BBC Sport | Maccarinelli enjoying last fighting chance
- "Enzo Maccarinelli handed six-month drugs ban". Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- "Enzo Maccarinelli beats Roy Jones Jr with fourth-round knockout", BBC, 12 December 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2016
- Griffiths, Gareth (2016) "Welsh boxer Enzo Maccarinelli announces retirement after European title defeat", Wales Online, 11 June 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016
External links
| Sporting positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional boxing titles | ||||
| Vacant Title last held by Marco Huck |
European cruiserweight champion 27 April 2010 – 18 October 2010 |
Succeeded by Alexander Frenkel | ||
| Preceded by Shane McPhilbin |
British cruiserweight champion 23 March 2012 – October 2012 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Jon-Lewis Dickinson | ||
| Preceded by Ovill McKenzie |
Commonwealth light-heavyweight champion 17 August 2013 – December 2013 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Bob Ajisafe | ||
| Minor world boxing titles | ||||
| Vacant Title last held by Sebastiaan Rothmann |
WBU cruiserweight champion 28 June 2003 – July 2006 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Mark Hobson | ||
| Major world boxing titles | ||||
| New title | WBO cruiserweight champion Interim title 8 July 2006 – 22 September 2006 Promoted |
Vacant Title next held by Victor Emilio Ramírez | ||
| Preceded by Johnny Nelson retired |
WBO cruiserweight champion 22 September 2006 – 8 March 2008 |
Succeeded by David Haye | ||