By Sean McDaniel: It doesn’t look good for Enzo Maccarinelli (29-3, 22 KO’s) as he approaches his July 18th bout against undefeated Russian cruiserweight contender at the M.E.N Arena, in Manchester. Maccarinelli, 28, has lost two out of his last three fights and appears on the verge of being sent into journeyman status with another loss.

Some boxing experts feel that Maccarinelli’s chin isn’t what it used to be after he was viciously knocked out by cruiserweight David Haye in the 2nd round last year in March. Although Maccarinelli would probably be the first to argue against this.

His loss 9th round stoppage loss in March of 2009 against Ola Afolabi, in which Maccarinelli was badly hurt, would seem to speak otherwise. Afolabi is a good puncher, but not the kind of puncher that would do the damage that was done to Maccarinelli.

As if to prove that his chin is still intact, Maccarinelli has picked a fighter with heavy hands in 29-year-old Lebedev to fight. Lebedev doesn’t have the same kind of speed or power that Haye possesses, but he has the ability to cause Maccarinelli some issues if he can hold up under Maccarinelli’s early onslaught to try and catch him with something big.

It’s strange how quickly Maccarinelli’s career has turned around for the negative. A year ago, Maccarinelli was considered to be the second best cruiserweight in the division, and a future star of the sport. Now, with knockout losses to Haye and Afolabi, Maccarinelli looks as if he’s ready for the scrap heap.

Oh sure, Maccarinelli is young enough at 28 to keep fighting for a number of years and still probably good enough to beat a number of the current top cruiserweights in the division. However, his chin has failed him twice now and with big punchers in the division like Afolabi, Tomasz Adamek, Marco Huck, Enad Licina, Yoan Pablo Hernandez and Herbie Hide, Maccarinelli may not have a good enough chin to get by those kinds of fighters.

Unless Maccarinelli can change his old style of brawling and come up with a fighting style suited for his weak chin, he might be finding himself in a bad situation should he lose to Lebedev or one of the aforementioned cruiserweights.

Maccarinelli has certainly picked a great date to test what he has left of his abilities. Enzo will be fighting on the undercard of the Amir Khan vs. Andriy Kotelnik bout on the 18th, and this will give Maccarinelli a great deal of visibility.

That can be a good or a bad thing depending on the outcome of that fight. Even in winning, if Maccarinelli doesn’t look impressive enough, his stock will continue to plummet. All it takes is for him to get staggered or knocked down by Lebedev, and the fans will likely write Maccarinelli off. Losing to Lebedev, a fighter with a built up record on the backs of little known fighters, would be a fatal blow to Maccarinelli’s boxing career.

He can’t afford another loss, especially to a fighter like Lebedev. The Russian is very beatable despite his perfect record, and this should be a fairly easy fight for Maccarinelli as long as he has anything left in the tank.