Enzo Maccarinelli


Enzo Maccarinelli is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2016. He held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2006 to 2008, and the European and British cruiserweight titles between 2010 and 2012.

Professional career

Early 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. He made seven successful defences of his WBU title before vacating.

WBO cruiserweight champion

On 8 July 2006, Maccarinelli fought against former World Boxing Council cruiserweight champion Marcelo Fabian Domínguez for the WBO interim cruiserweight title. Maccarinelli won the title with a ninth-round TKO. The natural progression was a title fight against the then WBO title holder, Johnny Nelson. Due to several injuries to Nelson this matchup never transpired, and on 22 September 2006 he announced his retirement, automatically relinquishing the belt and allowing Maccarinelli to be promoted to full champion status.

Title defences

On 14 October 2006 Maccarinelli made his first defence of the WBO title, stopping former opponent Mark Hobson in the first round in a fight that was widely expected to last the distance. This was followed by another first round win over Bobby Gunn on 7 April 2007 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The Gunn fight was stopped with just :25 seconds remaining in the first round by referee Mark Nelson, even though Gunn was not down and only had a small cut. It was widely and erroneously reported that Maccarinelli had broken Bobby Gunn's nose, but it was a small cut to the bridge of the nose that caused the bleeding. Gunn's nose was not broken and most observers at ringside thought the fight was stopped prematurely.
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.

'Bombs Away' and loss of title

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". 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.
After the fight Haye announced that he would be moving up to the heavyweight division with immediate effect and would therefore be vacating his newly won belts. Because of this Maccarinelli received an immediate opportunity to reclaim his WBO belt in a matchup against undefeated American Jonathon Banks for the now vacant championship, but due to injury Banks was forced to pull out. After several replacements were unable to fight, Maccarinelli instead stepped up to heavyweight to face Matthew Ellis. Maccarinelli won after a 2nd-round KO in what was his debut at the higher weight. After the fight Frank Warren announced that Maccarinelli would face Banks in a re-scheduled bout for the WBO belt during February 2009.
Once again the Banks fight proved to be a non-starter and instead Maccarinelli's next fight was against the American-based Londoner Ola Afolabi for the "interim" WBO title. The fight took place on 14 March at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, on the undercard of the Amir Khan vs Marco Antonio Barrera bout. Maccarinelli was favoured by most observers to win, however things did not go as expected as Maccarinelli struggled in the early rounds and was staggered in the 3rd round by a short chopping right hand from the slick Afolabi. Despite managing to recover and win the majority of the next few rounds he was knocked out by Afolabi in round 9 when a huge overhand right put him on the canvas and forced the referee to call off the fight.

Lebedev fight, retirement, and return

Maccarinelli's next 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 light-welterweight title challenge against Andreas Kotelnik. 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.
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 talking immediately after the defeat he 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 apparently confirmed his intention to retire from the sport, although he retracted this in a later interview with the same source.
Maccarinelli began his latest comeback attempt on another Amir Khan undercard, this time Khan's WBA Light-Welterweight title defence against on 5 December at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle. His opponent was the relatively unknown Hungarian journeyman Krisztian Jaksi. who provided little resistance and was knocked out in the 1st round. Maccarinelli managed a second consecutive 1st-round KO victory against Hungarian opposition when he defeated Zoltan Czekus at the Echo Arena Liverpool on 13 March 2010.

European cruiserweight title shot

Following his two quick comeback wins Maccarinelli's next fight took place on 27 April 2010 when he fought Russian prospect Alexander Kotlobay in St Petersburg for the vacant European cruiserweight title. Despite now being the fighter that had to travel and fight on someone else's patch, Maccarinelli scored his third consecutive quick victory when he knocked Kotlobay down with an overhand right before the referee stepped in to end the fight at 2:15 of the first round.
His first defence of his newly won title came as part of Frank Warren's "Magnificent Seven" fight card, which took place on 18 September 2010 at the LG Arena in Birmingham. His opponent for this defence was the undefeated Ukrainian prospect Alexander Frenkel. Despite a tentative opening round Maccarinelli improved and managed to rock his opponent in the fourth round with a right hand. A clash of heads in the sixth led to a cut developing over his right eye, however the fight still appeared to be going Maccarinelli's way until he was knocked down heavily towards the end of round seven by a left hook from Frenkel. Despite managing to rise by the count of nine he was extremely unsteady and appeared to be in no position to defend himself. However the referee allowed the bout to continue, only for it to be stopped a few seconds later when a three punch combination from Frenkel led to a second knockdown. The final blows were struck with such ferocity that Maccarinelli was knocked unconscious and required oxygen and medical attention before being able to leave the ring. At the time of the fight there was heavy criticism from both journalists and fellow boxers at the decision by the referee to allow the fight to continue after the first knockdown, when it was clear that Maccarinelli was in no position to defend himself.
As with the aftermath of the Afolabi and Lebedev defeats there were also been calls for Maccarinelli to retire from the ring, something which the boxer himself admitted to the press was a distinct possibility following his fourth KO loss in eight fights.

Move to light-heavyweight

After a period of inactivity following the Frenkel defeat, in February 2011 Maccarinelli announced that rather than retiring he would instead be dropping down in weight to compete in the 175 lb light-heavyweight division, with a view to having his first fight at the weight limit later on in the year.
Several months later he made the further announcement that he would once again be working with former coach Enzo Calzaghe, who was part of Maccarinelli's team during his successful run at cruiserweight. At the same time he also expressed a desire to fight for a world title at the new weight limit in the future, and in particular put forward the idea of an all Welsh title fight between himself and current WBO belt holder Nathan Cleverly.
Exactly 14 months after his last in-ring appearance Maccarinelli's first fight at the new weight limit took place at the York Hall in Bethnal Green on 18 November 2011. As with 2 of his previous 4 fights at cruiserweight the opponent was a Hungarian fighter, this time the undefeated Gyorgy Marosi. Maccarinelli emerged victorious, scoring a 1st-round TKO victory after just 99 seconds against an overmatched Marosi.
Following the successful debut at 175 lbs Maccarinelli reiterated his desire to fight for a world title at 175 lbs and again made reference to an all Welsh bout with Cleverly, although ruled out the prospect of such a matchup occurring straight away.
In July 2012, Maccarinelli was banned for six months after testing positive for Methylhexaneamine.

Return to cruiserweight and final retirement

In 2015 Maccarinelli returned to cruiserweight and in December knocked out the then 46-year-old Roy Jones Jr. in the fourth round at the VTB Ice Palace in Moscow. In June 2016 he fought Dmytro Kucher for the vacant European cruiserweight title, but lost by TKO in the first round, subsequently announcing his retirement from boxing.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
49Loss41–8 Dmytro KucherTKO1, 2:4810 Jun 2016 York Hall, London, EnglandFor vacant European cruiserweight title
48Win41–7 Roy Jones Jr.KO4, 1:5912 Dec 2015 VTB Arena, Moscow, Russia
47Win40–7 Jiri SvacinaTKO5, 2:0010 Oct 2015 Newport Centre, Newport, Wales
46Win39–7 Gyorgy NovakTKO1, 0:4814 Mar 2015 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, England
45Loss38–7 Jürgen Brähmer5, 3:005 Apr 2014 StadtHalle, Rostock, GermanyFor WBA light-heavyweight title
44Win38–6 Courtney FryTKO7, 1:467 Dec 2013 Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
43Win37–6 Ovill McKenzieTKO11, 2:4417 Aug 2013 Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, WalesWon Commonwealth light-heavyweight title
42Win36–6 Carl WildKO6, 2:1820 Apr 2013 Wembley Arena, London, England
41Loss35–6 Ovill McKenzieTKO2, 2:1511 Sep 2012 Liverpool Olympia, Liverpool, EnglandFor Commonwealth light-heavyweight title
40Win35–5 Shane McPhilbinUD1223 Mar 2012 Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, EnglandWon British cruiserweight title
39Win34–5 Ciaran HealyTKO2, 2:5025 Feb 2012 Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales
38Win33–5 Gyorgy MarosiTKO1, 1:3918 Nov 2011 York Hall, London, England
37Loss32–5 Alexander FrenkelKO7, 2:3018 Sep 2010 LG Arena, Birmingham, EnglandLost European cruiserweight title
36Win32–4 Alexander KotlobayTKO1, 2:1527 Apr 2010 Yubileiny Sports Palace, Saint Petersburg, RussiaWon European cruiserweight title
35Win31–4 Zoltan CzekusTKO1, 2:0412 Mar 2010 Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
34Win30–4 Krisztian JaksiKO1, 1:345 Dec 2009 Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England
33Loss29–4 Denis LebedevTKO3, 2:2018 Jul 2009 MEN Arena, Manchester, EnglandFor vacant WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight title
32Loss29–3 Ola AfolabiKO9, 1:5014 Mar 2009 MEN Arena, Manchester, EnglandFor WBO interim cruiserweight title
31Win29–2 Matthew EllisTKO2, 1:286 Dec 2008 ExCeL, London, England
30Loss28–2 David HayeTKO2, 2:048 Mar 2008 The O2 Arena, London, EnglandLost WBO cruiserweight title;
For WBA, WBC, The Ring, and lineal cruiserweight titles
29Win28–1 Mohamed AzzaouiTKO4, 0:583 Nov 2007 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, WalesRetained WBO cruiserweight title
28Win27–1 Wayne BraithwaiteUD1221 Jul 2007 International Arena, Cardiff, WalesRetained WBO cruiserweight title
27Win26–1 Bobby GunnTKO1, 2:357 Apr 2007 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, WalesRetained WBO cruiserweight title
26Win25–1 Mark HobsonTKO1, 1:1114 Oct 2006 MEN Arena, Manchester, EnglandRetained WBO cruiserweight title
25Win24–1 Marcelo DomínguezTKO9, 0:588 Jul 2006 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, WalesWon WBO interim cruiserweight title
24Win23–1 Mark HobsonUD124 Mar 2006 MEN Arena, Manchester, EnglandRetained WBU cruiserweight title
23Win22–1 Marco HeinichenKO1, 1:3826 Nov 2005 Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome, Italy
22Win21–1 Roman BugajTKO1, 1:554 Jun 2005 MEN Arena, Manchester, England
21Win20–1 Rich LaMontagneTKO4, 1:0421 Jan 2005 Leisure Centre, Bridgend, WalesRetained WBU cruiserweight title
20Win19–1 Jesper KristiansenKO3, 2:053 Sep 2004 Leisure Centre, Newport, WalesRetained WBU cruiserweight title
19Win18–1 Ismail Abdoul123 Jul 2004 Leisure Centre, Newport, WalesRetained WBU cruiserweight title
18Win17–1 Gary DelaneyTKO8, 2:3721 Feb 2004 National Ice Rink, Cardiff, WalesRetained WBU cruiserweight title
17Win16–1 Earl MoraisKO1, 1:306 Dec 2003 National Ice Rink, Cardiff, WalesRetained WBU cruiserweight title
16Win15–1 Andrei KarstenKO1, 1:1013 Sep 2003 Leisure Centre, Newport, WalesRetained WBU cruiserweight title
15Win14–1 Bruce ScottTKO4, 2:4918 Jun 2003 International Arena, Cardiff, WalesWon vacant WBU cruiserweight title
14Win13–1 Valeri SemiskurTKO1, 1:3829 Mar 2003 Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth, England
13Win12–1 Paul BonsonPTS418 Jan 2003 Guild Hall, Preston, England
12Win11–1 Dave ClarkeTKO2, 2:3812 Oct 2002 York Hall, London, England
11Win10–1 Tony BoothTKO2, 1:5117 Aug 2002 Cardiff Castle, Cardiff, Wales
10Win9–1 Tony BoothPTS420 Apr 2002 International Arena, Cardiff, Wales
9Win8–1 James GilbertTKO2, 2:1812 Feb 2002 York Hall, London, England
8Win7–1 Kevin BarrettTKO2, 2:3815 Dec 2001 Wembley Conference Centre, London, England
7Win6–1 Eamon GlennonTKO2 9 Oct 2001 National Ice Rink, Cardiff, Wales
6Win5–1 Darren AshtonKO1, 1:1518 Apr 2001 International Arena, Cardiff, Wales
5Win4–1 Chris WoollasPTS411 Dec 2000 Kingsway Leisure Centre, Widnes, England
4Loss3–1 Lee Swaby3, 2:3512 May 2000 Leisure Centre, Swansea, Wales
3Win3–0 Nigel RaffertyTKO3, 2:5226 Feb 2000 Leisure Centre, Swansea, Wales
2Win2–0 Mark Williams1, 0:3511 Dec 1999 Rhydycar Leisure Centre, Merthyr, Wales
1Win1–0 Paul Bonson42 Oct 1999 International Arena, Cardiff, Wales