Enzo Maccarinelli (born 20 August 1980 in Swansea, Wales) is a retired Welsh professional boxer who fought in the cruiserweight division and was a former WBO champion.

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Professional career

On 12 May 2000, Maccarinelli suffered his first defeat at the hands of southpaw Lee Swaby. Swaby, from Lincoln, England, sent Maccarinelli down with a crushing right hand, knocking Maccarinelli down in the third round. Maccarinelli never took the rematch against Swaby.

On 28 June 2003, Maccarinelli, known as "the Big Mac" won the vacant WBU cruiserweight title when he defeated Bruce Scott by fourth-round TKO. ^[1] He has defended the title seven times since then.

On 8 July 2006, Maccarinelli fought against former WBC cruiserweight champion Marcelo Fabian Domínguez for the WBO interim cruiserweight title. Maccarinelli won the title with a ninth-round TKO. On 22 September 2006, Johnny Nelson relinquished the WBO world cruiserweight title, and so Maccarinelli was promoted to full champion status. ^[2]

On 14 October 2006 Maccarinelli made his first defence of the WBO title, stopping past opponent Mark Hobson in the first round in a fight that was widely expected to last the distance (as indeed the first fight between the pair had). This was followed by another first round win over Bobby Gunn on 7 April 2007 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. In which he knocked his opponent out in the first round in stunning fashion leaving Gunn with a bloodied face and broken nose.

On 21 July 2007 Maccarinelli defended his WBO cruiserweight championship against former WBC champ Wayne Braithwaite and won by unanimous decision, after dominating the match. On 3 November 2007 Maccarinelli successfully defended his WBO cruiserweight title against Mohamed Azzaoui winning by TKO in the 4th Round.

Maccarinelli’s next fight was an all-British unification fight against the WBA/WBC champion David Haye. The fight took place on 8 March 2008 at the O2 Arena, London and was much hyped in the weeks running up to the event, being given the tagline “bombs away” (referring to the high KO percentages and punching power both men boasted). Maccarinelli lost the fight and his WBO belt when he was knocked out in the 2nd round. A right hand by Haye knocked Maccarinelli down towards the end of the round and although he was able to get back up it was on unsteady legs and the referee stepped in to stop the fight. ^[3]

Maccarinelli was set to face undefeated American Jonathon Banks for the vacant WBO Cruiserweight championship but due to injury Banks pulled out. After several replacements were unable to fight, Maccarinelli stepped up to heavyweight to face Matthew Ellis. Maccarinelli won after a 2nd round KO in his heavyweight debut. After the fight Frank Warren announced that Maccarinelli would face Jonathon Banks in a re-scheduled bout during February 2009.

Once again the Banks fight proved to be a non starter (Banks would instead make an unsuccessful attempt to win the IBF cruiserweight title against Tomasz Adamek) and instead Maccarinelli’s next fight was against the American based Londoner Ola Afolabi for the “interim” WBO cruiserweight title. The fight took place on March 14th at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, on the undercard of the Amir Khan vs Marco Antonio Barrera bout. With little knowledge about Afolabi, Maccarinelli was favoured by most observers to win prior to the fight. Maccarinelli was heavily staggered in the 3rd round by a short chopping right hand, and despite winning the majority of the next few rounds, he was knocked out by Afolabi in round 9 by a huge overhand right. ^[4]

Lebedev Fight & Retirement

Maccarinelli’s last fight was against the unbeaten Russian Denis Lebedev on 18 July 2009. As with the Afolabi contest the fight took place at the M.E.N Arena on the undercard of an Amir Khan fight, this time Khan’s WBA welterweight title challenge against Andreas Kotelnik. Maccarinelli From the very beginning of the fight Maccarinelli struggled with the power of his opponent and by the end of the second round his right eye had swollen completely shut from the punches landed by Lebedev. In the third round Lebedev rocked Maccarinelli with an uppercut which landed cleanly through his guard and after a further barrage of unanswered punches the referee stepped in and called a stop to the fight. ^[5]

Before the fight Maccarinelli had admitted that the contest represented “the last chance saloon” in terms of getting his career back on track, following 2 KO losses in his last 3 fights, and when interviewed after the defeat Maccarinelli hinted that this latest setback could signal the end of his boxing career. In an interview with his local paper a few days later Maccarinelli confirmed his intention to retire from the sport. ^[6]

Personal life

Maccarinelli attended Bishop Vaughan Catholic school in Swansea. He studied there until sixth form but then carried on with his Boxing career. He is married.

He is a passionate Swansea City supporter, and has appeared at the Liberty Stadium.

See also

• List of cruiserweight boxing champions

Notes and references

1. BoxRec.com editors. "Enzo Maccarinelli." BoxRec.com. URL accessed 11 July 2006.
2. Fightnews.com editors. "Nelson relinquishes title!" 22 September 2006. ''Fightnews.com''. URL accessed 22 September 2006.
3. BBC SPORT | Boxing | Awesome Haye stops Maccarinelli
4. BBC SPORT | Boxing | Maccarinelli suffers KO loss
5. BBC SPORT | Boxing | Maccarinelli Faces The End After Loss
6. Russian Loss Signals The End For Enzo