By William Mackay: In one of the better fights on the Magnificent Seven card at the LG Arena, in Birmingham, undefeated cruiserweight contender Alexander Frenkel (22-0, 17 KO’s) will be taking a big step up in competition against former World Boxing Organization cruiserweight champion and current EBU champion Enzo Maccarinelli (32-4, 25 KO’s) in a 12 round bout. Both of these fighters are deeply flawed and it’s really hard to pick a winner in this fight. Frenkel hits hard and has knockout power with either hand. However, he’s no hand speed at all and his defense is rather poor.

Frenkel looked so much better shortly after turning pro four years in 2006. He seems to have slowed down in terms of hand speed and regressed as a fighter. That’s not a good thing going into this fight, because if nothing else, Maccarinelli can really punch. Maccarinelli is probably easily the best slugger in the cruiserweight division, but his chin is fragile. If Frenkel can survive long enough to land one of his big shots, he could end up taking Maccarinelli out. But it’s not easy to survive for long against Maccarinelli because he’s usually on top of his opponents raking them with tremendous shots to the body and head.

You’ve got to have the ability to take body shots and head shots if you want to survive for long against Maccarinelli. Frenkel can punch, though. If he can stand up to Maccarinelli’s big shots for at least five or six rounds, I think he can stop him. But I don’t know if he can. Maccarinelli has looked devastating in his last three fights since being stopped by Russian slugger Denis Lebedev in the 3rd round last year in July. Since then, Maccarinelli has scored three straight 1st round knockouts. His last win was a victory over Russian Alexander Kotlobay in April. That wasn’t a bad opponent, and yet Maccarinelli just tore the guy apart.

Frenkel is going to have to stay away from Maccarinelli for a few rounds before he tries to go at him. If he tries to slug with Maccarinelli immediately, I think Frenkel will end up getting stopped in the opening round. But if he’s smart, he’ll wait Maccarinelli out for five or six rounds like Ola Afolabi did in his win over Maccarinelli last year. As flawed as Frenkel is, I think he’s smart enough to survive long enough to tire Maccarinelli out and stop him with a big shot in the 7th or 8th round.

Prediction: Frenkel by 8th round TKO