By Scott Gilfoid: Former WBO cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli (28-2, 21 KOs) looks to return to the ring on June 28th against a still to be determined opponent. In his last fight, Maccarinelli, 27, suffered an embarrassing 2nd round TKO to David Haye at the O2 Arena, in Greenwich, London. To be sure, there’s no shame in losing to a fighter of Haye’s caliber, especially when you fight a faulty game plan going into the fight. However, the manner in which Maccarinelli lost – an utter blowout – no doubt let him feeling less than pleased with his performance on that night against Haye. It’s as if all Maccarinelli’s studious planning went completely out the window at the first sight of aggression from Haye in the first round of the fight.
Obviously, with a brutal knockout like the one that Maccarinelli experienced against Haye in which he took some very heavy shots to that head, he’ll likely want to take it easy in his first fight coming off the knockout. Indeed, instead of seeing Maccarinelli take on a top ten opponent like many of his fans would like to see him go up against, it would seem like the wiser choice for him would be a soft opponent, preferably one with next to zero power. Maccarinelli has said that he want to take on a top fighter, not wanting to go in against a soft opponent that he would feel no challenge in beating.
If that indeed is the case, then there’s no shortage of top cruiserweights out there for Maccarinelli to pick from. Starting with BJ Flores, the #2 ranked cruiserweight in the IBF, who has been calling out Maccarinelli for the past month without much luck.
This would be an excellent fight for Maccarinelli in that Flores doesn’t have much power to speak of and tends to run a lot at the slightest hint of an attack from his opponent. Against a big puncher like Maccarinelli, Flores wouldn’t likely bring his track shoes and spend most of the fight either running or jabbing. He’d never set down on his punches, and would fight off his back foot for most of the fight, which would allow Maccarinelli to get through the fight without getting hit with anything big. Although I could understand why Maccarinelli might be reluctant to fight Flores, for he’d be a very tough opponent if Flores attempted to fight with more aggression than his recent bout against Darnell Wilson. It would take a tremendous effort from Maccarinelli to beat him, considering that Flores is a big cruiserweight and looks more like a heavyweight than an actual cruiserweight. For that reason, I doubt seriously that Maccarinelli will take on Flores.
He’s too dangerous because of his boxing skills. Like I said, his power is nothing but his ability to move and jab might cause problems for the flatfooted Maccarinelli, who moves like he has his feet trapped in a pool of quicksand. An ideal opponent for Maccarinelli, I think, would be 44 year-old Virgil Hill. He’s lost three out of his last four bouts, and no longer has much power or speed to worry Maccarinelli. There would be nor worry for Maccarinelli, who no needs to protect his tender chin at all costs. You never know what kind of lingering neurological problems from his vicious knockout from Haye, and with Hill, Maccarinelli would have a safe opponent, almost like a big punching bag for him to look good against once again.
Apart from him, Maccarinelli needs to be extra careful if he decides on fighting one of the top 15 fighters in the division. Though he’s 27, he’s an old 27 and looks closer to 34. The younger fighters would likely go for the kill if given the chance to fight Maccarinelli, wanting to immediately test his chin with some big head shots. At this point, I’m not confident that Maccarinelli can handle too many head shots without going down. Like I said, it was a bad knockout loss that he suffered from Haye, and he really needs at least a year to let his brain recover from those sledgehammer blows he received by Haye. If he gets stunned early on by one of them, I can see him getting taken out in a quick fashion like in his fight with Haye.