Maccarinelli Leaves Calzaghe – News

By Jim Dower: Former World Boxing Organization (WBO) cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli (29-3, 22 KOs) has reportedly left his trainer Enzo Calzaghe, the father of former WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe, and has taken on a new trainer Karl Ince. It’s unclear what the exact reason for the split, but it likely stems from the fact that Maccarinelli, 28, has lost two out of his last three fights, both by knockouts.

If things turn out for the best, Maccarinelli could be fighting on the undercard of the World Boxing Association light welterweight title match between champion Andriy Koteknik and challenger Amir Khan on June 27th at the O2 Arena (Millenium Dome), in Greenwich, London. It will be a high visibility bout, and a perfect one for Maccarinelli to try and shine in front of the huge audience.

Looking good is what Maccarinelli needs to do above all, as Maccarinelli is coming off an embarrassing 9th round TKO loss to Ola Afolabi on March 14th in a bout for the vacant WBO cruiserweight title at the M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester, Lancashire.

Maccarinelli, ranked number #1 in the WBO cruiserweight division, was expected to beat Afolabi, with many in the boxing world predicting that Maccarinelli would not only beat Afolabi but knock him out as well. However, it seems as if Maccarinelli, along with many boxing experts, underestimated the talent level of Afolabi as Maccarinelli was quickly staggered in the 3rd round by a big right hand from Afolabi.

Maccarinelli was forced to hold on to prevent from going down. After that brief rough patch in the fight, Maccarinelli seemed to settle down and fight well for the next five rounds, dominating the action with his jab and hooks to the body.

Things may have worked out well for Maccarinelli if he could have stayed on the outside and used his jab for the four remaining rounds. Instead, though, Maccarinelli stood right in front of Afolabi in the 9th round and was hit first with a hard left to the body, and then a second later a big right to the head that sent Maccarinelli down on the canvas.

Maccarinelli got up but was in bad shape, staggering around, and the referee then immediately stopped the bout.

In looking at that fight, it seemed as if Maccarinelli’s style of fighting – standing directly in front of Afolabi, throwing hard hooks and short fast punches with both hands – seemed all wrong for a fighter the size of the 6’3” Maccarinelli. The style seemed like a poor imitation of Joe Calzaghe’s former fighting style, only without the fast hand speed and the ability to get out of the way of punches.

It seemed all wrong for a fighter the size of Maccarinelli, especially given his recent history of suffering a 2nd round TKO to David Haye in March 2008. A better suited style for Maccarinelli would be one where he’s fighting on the outside using his jab and right hand to inflict damage.

On occasions, I could see Maccarinelli body shots when his opponent crowds him or when he feels that it’s safe to fight in close. However, the last thing that Maccarinelli needs to be trying to do is to fight in close and negate his height, leaving himself open for big shots.

Maccarinelli could be racing Russian cruiserweight Denis Lebedev (17-0, 12 KOs) on the June 27th undercard. Not much is known of Lebedev other than he’s beaten journeyman Elisio Castillo by a 5th round TKO in March. Other than that, Lebedev has faced no one of note and will be taking a big step up in competition if he turns out to be the one that’s facing Maccarinelli on June 27th.

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