By Chris Williams: I don’t want to be the bringer of bad news, but I think it might not be a bad idea right about now if former WBO cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli (29-3, 22 KOs) decides to hang up the boxing gloves for good. After his second knockout loss in a year, this time a 9th round stoppage against Ola Afolabi (14-1-3, 6 KOs) last Saturday night at the M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester, Lancashire, I think Maccarinelli just doesn’t have the chin for the business and needs to get out.
It’s not that Maccarinelli has bad skills for a fighter, that’s not it at all. He actually has a lot talent and good size for a cruiserweight, but as far as his ability to take a big punch, he doesn’t seem to have the ability to take a heavy shot. In the 9th round against Afolabi, Maccarinelli looked decent until he was hit with a hard left to the body a minute into the round.
After that shot, Maccarinelli retreated backwards to the middleweight of the round. At center ring, Afolabi then tagged him with a big right hand and knocked Maccarinelli flat on his back on the canvas. He got up, staggering to the ropes where the referee Terry O’Connor took one look at him and stopped the fight right then and there at 1:50 of the round.
If that was the only time Maccarinelli had been hurt in the fight, maybe I could excuse his knockout a little. However, Afolabi hit him with a good – not great – right hand while backed against the ropes in the 3rd round, causing Maccarinelli to do another chicken dance as he staggered and held on for dear life to prevent from being knocked out. Now that’s not good.
The thing of it is, Afolabi isn’t that big of a puncher, yet he was able to hurt Maccarinelli and put him down for the count.
So, where does Maccarinelli go from here? I think there’s not a lot of options he can do if he wants to make money in the sport. Given his two knockout losses to David Haye and Afolabi, I think Maccarinelli is kidding himself if he thinks he can stick around the sport and beat the likes of Tomasz Adamek or Steve Cunningham. Those guys would most definitely knock Maccarinelli out well inside the distance if given the chance.
I think Maccarinelli could find some temporary success if he goes after WBA cruiserweight champion Guillermo Jones or WBC champion Giacobbe Fragomeni, but that’s not a given the way that Maccarinelli has looked in two of his last three fights. However, that’s the direction he needs to be heading in if he wants to find some success at this level.
If he opts to try and get a rematch with Afolabi, I think he’s risking suicide. Afolabi, though a lazy fighter at times, has the power and the ability to turn on his offense at the drop of a dime and given Maccarinelli instant problems. But, to be honest, I got to say I don’t see Maccarinelli winning any more major titles on the world level in this lifetime.
I think his ability to take a punch has been compromised from his two losses and without a long break to try and heal the possible neurological damage to his head, I don’t think Maccarinelli has much chance of finding future success at cruiserweight.
Of course, with his power and size, he could easily win a title at the local level and probably hold it for a long time. There’s not much competition for him in England, and he could knockout most of his opponents in a round or two before they tap his chin and put him down.
However, he’ll probably make much less money fighting at that level because he won’t be facing top world competition, but at least he would still be fighting and winning for a while. I doubt he’ll do that, though. He’ll probably fight on, carefully selecting weaker punchers for awhile until landing a title shot against one of the champions and at that point, he’ll probably get knocked out again just as before.
My advice is that unless he badly needs the money, he needs to retire immediately and save his brain from getting beaten around too much more in losing efforts.
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