What did Maccarinelli prove in beating Kotlobay?

By Scott Gilfoid: Okay, I’ve seen Enzo Maccarinelli’s 1st round knockout win over Alexander Kotlobay from Tuesday night and I don’t see what the fuss is about the win. Maccarinelli had a guy that was completely over-matched and got taken out almost immediately in the fight. It’s nice that Maccarinelli captured the EBS cruiserweight trinket, but come on, Man, there’s huge jump from beating the likes of Kotlobay and taking on beating the top guys in the cruiserweight division like Marco Huck, Ola Afolabi, Danny Green, Denis Lebedev and Krzystof Wlodarczyk.

We’ve already seen Maccarinelli get stopped by two of those fighters, Afolabi and Lebedev in the past. What makes you think that Maccarinelli won’t get taken out again once he starts stepping it up again? I really don’t like Maccarinelli’s chances once the training wheels get taken off and he’s put in with those guys. At the EBU level, no doubt, Maccarinelli is hard to beat. Offensively speaking, I agree that Maccarinelli is probably the best puncher in the cruiserweight division.

But, Man, the guys chin, his straight up style of fighting and his tendency to crowd his opponents like a short fighter would, makes him vulnerable at all times. I do like the way he fought against Kotlobay on Tuesday. Maccarinelli kept his distance, used his jab effectively and landed a crushing right hand from the outside that dropped Kotlobay early in the round. But as soon as Maccarinelli had him hurt, he started crowding him and took a few feeble right hands from Kotlobay.

Maccarinelli might not have had anything to worry, since Kotlobay was almost dead on his feet at the time, but with Maccarinelli’s history of being stopped, I don’t like the guy taking chances with any fighter, even if he has them ready to go like he did Kotlobay. But for the most part, I liked the way that Maccarinelli kept Kotlobay on the outside until he dropped him. That was a huge departure from the way that Maccarinelli had been fighting in the past, where he would rush his opponent, get close to them and immediately throwing body shots like an oversized Julio Cesar Chavez.

That short fighter style was all wrong for the 6’4” Maccarinelli from day one, and I knew he was going to have trouble with it eventually long before he was starched by David Haye. Can the 29-year-old Maccarinelli change his fighting style enough to become successful against the better fighters in the cruiserweight division? I’d say it’s unlikely at this point. It’s one thing looking good for the first minute of the 1st round against an over-matched opponent.

Most fighters look good in the opening minute of a fight when using a new style of fighting, but as the fight progresses, they quickly revert back to their normal style of fighting and start getting battered. Until I see otherwise, I’m going to assume this will be the case with Maccarinelli.

I think the guy needs to stay at the EBU level, defend the title three or four times, and prove that he’s learned how to fight on the outside before putting him in with the better cruiserweights. Maccarinelli has suffered too many knockout losses in a short period of time for him to be thrown in with the better fighters right now. The guy needs to get his confidence back and use his new style of fighting against some guys that can give him some rounds and test him.

11 Responses to “What did Maccarinelli prove in beating Kotlobay?”