Macca V Haye is on - in March!!

[banjaxd]

every FA Cup final that is a real spectacle someone always says " whatever the result, football is the winner today ..."

this is a big fight and i think whatever the result both david and enzo are the winners for getting it on and hopefully making some dough without getting hurt in a very tough sport...

surely both guys deserve this chance ?

[stujones]

Sorry, Terry D - you misread me. I was comparing Haye and Mormeck - not Mormeck and Braithwaite. Should Enzo beat Haye he deserve credit.

Seems Autobarn isn't going to consider this a geniune match up cause Haye is apparently "dead at the weight". This is all being judged on a 2 minute Heavyweight debut vs an average fighter.

I agree that Mormeck is better than Braithwaite - he showed this, but Braithwaite is no semi pro BUM that Autobarn has potrayed him as. He was more active than Mormeck.

Looks like Enzo Mac will have the same problem as Floyd Mayweather - always have the critics no matter who he fights .

If Macca beats Haye, he deserves credit of course, BUT the point being made is, Haye has done all the hard work thus far in this little episode.

A great point was made above about Enzo and if he was Argentinian(or any other nationality bar British or maybe American)
No one would give the slightest feck about this fight being made.

In terms of their careers, Enzo has been fed with the silver spoon thus far, whereas Haye has had it pretty hard, and everything he has gained so far has been all his own doing.

May the best man win(I KNOW who the better boxer of the two is )and I hope both have a successful career after this little episode is all wrapped up

Doesn't the same apply for Woods vs Calzaghe, Calzaghe vs Froch, Witter vs Hatton?

Absolutely, of course Haye deserves huge credit and respect for taking the match and I am split down the middle on who I think will win.

The point being made by some posters is that Haye is dead at the weight and if Macca wins all he has done is beaten up a shell who happens to hold the belts.... people saying all the cards with Macca. I have even heard people call it not a geniune fight!!!

Though if Enzo won all the vacant belts it would have been "back door route" again! No win situation.

[states]

It's just daft. Everyone is saying Hatton should take the high-risk, low-reward fight with Witter (and rightly so), yet Haye is taking the high-risk fight against Maccarinelli (and, unlike Hatton versus Witter, probably getting a career-high payday for his troubles), and people are saying it's a cynical mismatch. Haye is the champion of the world at cruiserweight. If he feels comfortable fighting Maccarinelli, nobody on here should have any complaints.

[nickd]

It's just daft. Everyone is saying Hatton should take the high-risk, low-reward fight with Witter (and rightly so), yet Haye is taking the high-risk fight against Maccarinelli (and, unlike Hatton versus Witter, probably getting a career-high payday for his troubles), and people are saying it's a cynical mismatch. Haye is the champion of the world at cruiserweight. If he feels comfortable fighting Maccarinelli, nobody on here should have any complaints.

Spot on great post.

[WildWaylon]

Perhaps this news silences the tedious bleatings of the stuck record brigade on this site who suggest allegedly allegedly allegedly overly protects his fighters. This proves, with the greatest of respect, on the back of Calzaghe-Kessler that these critics are spouting arrant nonsense (nice words for bollocks). Now we have a fight that everybody has been calling for, so why not give FW a little credit for having the balls to put it on.

Ha ha, you joker! So an aging Calzaghe, after a record number of defences, FINALLY fights Kessler (a fighter half the world weren't even familiar with, even if he was pretty good) and NOW FW is a legend?! It's like waiting for a bloody lunar eclipse, but I suppose some people are easily pleased.

I think your brain must be puddled walking round upside down - Kessler was a genuine two belt champ and Joe as fit as a butchers dog beat him - Fair play to Warren for putting in the work to get this fight on, better late than never - This is the first of the fights we thought we would never see - Hatton/Witter next and lets pray Calzaghe/Froch before Joe quits and most of us will be more than happy.

[jeej]

Perhaps this news silences the tedious bleatings of the stuck record brigade on this site who suggest allegedly allegedly allegedly allegedly overly protects his fighters. This proves, with the greatest of respect, on the back of Calzaghe-Kessler that these critics are spouting arrant nonsense (nice words for bollocks). Now we have a fight that everybody has been calling for, so why not give FW a little credit for having the balls to put it on.

Ha ha, you joker! So an aging Calzaghe, after a record number of defences, FINALLY fights Kessler (a fighter half the world weren't even familiar with, even if he was pretty good) and NOW FW is a legend?! It's like waiting for a bloody lunar eclipse, but I suppose some people are easily pleased.

I think your brain must be puddled walking round upside down - Kessler was a genuine two belt champ and Joe as fit as a butchers dog beat him - Fair play to Warren for putting in the work to get this fight on, better late than never - This is the first of the fights we thought we would never see - Hatton/Witter next and lets pray Calzaghe/Froch before Joe quits and most of us will be more than happy.

My point is that we waited like 10 bloody years for such a fight and all of a sudden FW is a hero.

[sharpei_louis]

Can't imagine why anyone here really defends Warren; in the US they're getting worse fighters than Calzaghe/Hatton/Macca up to world class in half the time it takes Warren. By 20-25 fights you pretty much know what to expect of a fighter, but I think the criticism of Warren is that he milks them for all they're worth with pretty meaningless fights in front of a captive audience over here in the UK. Hatton should never have had 40+ fights by the age of 29 and fighting for real world titles; it was only a switch of promoter which gave rise to his real tests.

I think the wider selection pool in America means that they have less patience with fighters who don't progress relatively quickly; Warren has had monopoly on the UK market for too long and has undeniably held back his better fighters. Calzaghe (and Maccarinelli) should have been chasing glory. We used to criticise Sven Ottke for never leaving Germany but these two boys are stuck down in Wales in a similar fashion.
It seems that Warren only tries to make the bigger matchups when they are nearing the end of their shelf life and the economics dictate that a few big paydays are necessary. In terms of Calzaghe, the Lacy fight was the one that made the Kessler match easy, and I don't think Warren should be getting much credit for either of them. It's testament to Joe's quality that people would want to come over to Wales to fight him.

All credit to Haye, who has gone and done it and despite his flashness has shown a real appetite for glory by going to France to fight Mormeck and now staying at Cruiser to fight Maccarinelli. I can't pick a winner; it's too close to call, but I hope Haye does it, and needless to say, explosively.

[rasputin]

I hope Haye beats Enzo purely because he didnt really need this fight
and he has the most to lose while choosing the harder path.

[darkstar81]

i hope haye batters enzo into next tuesday

[Tykemania]

Hayes in a win win situation really. If he wins, happy days. If he loses he blames the weight (which incidentally came off okay for the Mormeck fight and always has come off okay) infact, has Haye ever not made weight? Does he have anymore weight making problems than hatton or Scott Harrison (had)? Or is it just that he moans about it more?

Oh come on - look at the photos of Haye before the Mormeck fight - at near enough 16st he looked like there was barely an ounce of fat on him. We're not talking about shifting mountains of pie induced blubber or the remnants of several too many nights on the Braehead tiles, we're talking about Haye having to waste muscle away to make weight.

[Tykemania]

Can't imagine why anyone here really defends Warren; in the US they're getting worse fighters than Calzaghe/Hatton/Macca up to world class in half the time it takes Warren. By 20-25 fights you pretty much know what to expect of a fighter, but I think the criticism of Warren is that he milks them for all they're worth with pretty meaningless fights in front of a captive audience over here in the UK. Hatton should never have had 40+ fights by the age of 29 and fighting for real world titles; it was only a switch of promoter which gave rise to his real tests.

There are two sides to this for me - on the one hand, Warren doesn't have an easy job, because if he doesn't keep a percentage of his better fighters bigger fights in the UK then, whilst he may well manage to make a decent packet for himself, he has nothing to use to sell his domestic cards to the paying public, which goes on to mean that he cannot stage the same cards, which means no development for the massive number of younger fighters in his stable. I guess in essence this is a problem of allegedly Frank running a large American style operation in a much smaller market.

However, on the other side, there appear to be some pretty odious business practices which are not in the best interests of the sport. Firstly, his insistence on everyone having a padded 12 and 0 before they fight anyone with four working limbs. Then the insidious matchmaking which seems set up to avoid meaningful fights - like I said above, I appreciate that the top fighters in the stable need to drag the others along with them, but this gets taken to extremes - for example, Hatton could safely have been sent to the States in 2002 or 2003 to fight for a proper title rather than waiting and waiting for Tszyu.

What I really dislike though is the way that allegedly seems to believe himself the main man - the way that any fight with one of his guys has to come with options attached fo rhim to take on the other fighter in the event - unlikely given the matchmaking - that one of his guys doesn;t cut the mustard. Shameful!

[Autobarn]

I'm still concerned. Has everyone forgotten what Haye said, about starving himself, about having difficulties warming up for the Mormeck fight, suffering leg cramps warming up in the dressing room, etc?

He's losing something in his legs and reflexes, whereas Mac will be in excellent shape. This is why the big fight is happening, don't anyone fool yourselves.

Spud brought up a good point, about Haye maybe going for the early KO. Shades of the Thompson fight, etc,. However, Thompson has incredible recuperative powers whereas I don't think Mac has the chin/recovery of the CAT.


Still, Haye must like his titles and he's definitely defending them vs the most dangerous opponent at the weight.


Stujones - I never said it's not a genuine fight. It is. But Haye will be just far gone enough for Enzo to be able to get a win, convincing or not. Unless Haye sparks him early. I suppose it still could be a classic - I mean Benn was drained in the 1st Eubank fight, etc, but ultimately Warren has made the fight after Haye's "last fight at cruiserweight" which tells us a lot how the deck is stacked. I will look forward to this fight but I wish it wasn't under these circumstances which IMO are quite shitty.

[Twinkle Toes]

I would have fancied Enzo for this one a few months back, but that silly match against Azzaoui was such a huge step backwards.

Haye is right on the money at the moment, and I don't know why people are so concerned about the weight, because Haye obviously isn't.

It'll be a good fight, and I suspect both will be on the floor at some point.

[Eraserhead]

Sorry, Terry D - you misread me. I was comparing Haye and Mormeck - not Mormeck and Braithwaite. Should Enzo beat Haye he deserve credit.

Seems Autobarn isn't going to consider this a geniune match up cause Haye is apparently "dead at the weight". This is all being judged on a 2 minute Heavyweight debut vs an average fighter.

I agree that Mormeck is better than Braithwaite - he showed this, but Braithwaite is no semi pro BUM that Autobarn has potrayed him as. He was more active than Mormeck.

Looks like Enzo Mac will have the same problem as Floyd Mayweather - always have the critics no matter who he fights.

Sure, my mistake. Haye has taken the fight at Cruiser so any loss is down to his own conscience. I won't make excuses if he loses. Frankly I find it humiliating to even think about trying to spin a result just to save face. If you get it wrong you get it wrong.

Braithwaite may be more active than Mormeck granted. Although Peter Buckley is more active than Floyd. It is not black and white. Mormeck was number one, Haye beat him and is now number one. Enzo managed to push his claim on the basis of national proximity, if he was a foreign fighter we would not press his claims. He has a illigitimate title and some questionable recent match-ups.

Hopefully Enzo will put the Ribena down, ditch the E numbers, and calm down a bit as the fight approaches and realise, and respect that, he has just had a big favour handed down to him by the main man at Cruiser.

You're right. Enzo should be thankful for this. Part of the reason for his bitterness when Haye took a gamble and knocked out Mormeck was due to him realising his own career was going nowhere. He was WBO champion and, while he tried to persuade everyone he was important, he knew, deep down, that he wasn't. That's why the green eyes started coming out on Setanta and Bunce began fidgeting uncomfortably next to him.

If Haye had gone a different direction (heavyweight) after Mormeck, Enzo would be far from the 'next in line' in terms of the vacated titles. As WBO champion, and a protected one at that, Maccarinelli was well out of the running for those belts. Godfrey and Kraj would have contested the vacant WBC and Arslan would have become full WBA champ. While Enzo rots as WBO champion, he forfeits rankings with the other, more meaningful organisations. Check their rankings - he's nowhere to be seen. It would have taken years for Enzo to become the true number one at 200 lbs.

This fight gives Enzo an opportunity - an oppportunity he otherwise wouldn't have had. It also gives everyone else an opportunity to witness a great fight.

[Max Molyneux]

Not a million miles from the "our ricky" and Mayweather situation there.

Not really, Hatton beat the main man in his division then went after Mayweather, who is far more established than Haye. Tszyu is certainly no Gunn!

Spot on Terry. Enzo's nearest opponent to haye has been Briathwaite whoi was durable but not in the Bell/Mormeck league really.

I lost a lot of respect for Enzo in the studio after the Mormeck fight and gained a lot for Haye after he made the offer to Enzo when he had everything to lose and nothing to gain.

I like Enzo, but I'll be cheering Haye on fo' sure!

All the top 10 Cruisers are In Bell's league If not better most likely.

[stujones]

Sorry, Terry D - you misread me. I was comparing Haye and Mormeck - not Mormeck and Braithwaite. Should Enzo beat Haye he deserve credit.

Seems Autobarn isn't going to consider this a geniune match up cause Haye is apparently "dead at the weight". This is all being judged on a 2 minute Heavyweight debut vs an average fighter.

I agree that Mormeck is better than Braithwaite - he showed this, but Braithwaite is no semi pro BUM that Autobarn has potrayed him as. He was more active than Mormeck.

Looks like Enzo Mac will have the same problem as Floyd Mayweather - always have the critics no matter who he fights.

Sure, my mistake. Haye has taken the fight at Cruiser so any loss is down to his own conscience. I won't make excuses if he loses. Frankly I find it humiliating to even think about trying to spin a result just to save face. If you get it wrong you get it wrong.

Braithwaite may be more active than Mormeck granted. Although Peter Buckley is more active than Floyd. It is not black and white. Mormeck was number one, Haye beat him and is now number one. Enzo managed to push his claim on the basis of national proximity, if he was a foreign fighter we would not press his claims. He has a illigitimate title and some questionable recent match-ups.

Hopefully Enzo will put the Ribena down, ditch the E numbers, and calm down a bit as the fight approaches and realise, and respect that, he has just had a big favour handed down to him by the main man at Cruiser.

Not disputing who is the one we should thank for this match... hats off to Haye yet again, my fighter of 2007.

However, and I know this doesn't apply to you, this is a geniune fight for a
geniune title - if Enzo wins he should be called the legitmate champion, move above Haye in the P4P rankings and get similar plaudits to what David is getting now. But no, already the critics are saying they will not recognise Enzo if he is successful.

Yes, its fine to be critical of two of Enzo's title defences.... but not Braithwaite.... again, don't know if you are one of those - but some are even of that match up. Calling Braithwaite a semi pro (but then not Mormeck!).... personally, I don't think either deserve that term.

Braithwaite wasn't worthy for a title fight according to some, but Herbie Hide is?!

[Phenomenal-Nutrition]

Very good news for boxing, no FW is not altruistic but who cares this is 1 of the top3 domestic fights we've wanted for the last 2years, and maybe 1-2 at the weight in the world, so its a mega-fight for my money

As for how it pans out, thats hard to tell. Haye is slicker, both hit very hard (Haye harder), Enzo has far better stamina, btoh have penetrable defenses and shaky chins.

Could this be the new Eubank-Benn????

[Phenomenal-Nutrition]

Herbie Hide is not fit for a title shot in my opinion. Perhaps die hard yo-yo fans would like to see Hide in with Enzo or Haye. I would not.

Would love to see Herbie in with the winner, another potential cracker with the older weaker chinned Hide being the underdog. Who else would you want to see the winner in with? Bell maybe but Brit on Brit action is all the more exciting for my money

[Max Molyneux]

Can't imagine why anyone here really defends Warren; in the US they're getting worse fighters than Calzaghe/Hatton/Macca up to world class in half the time it takes Warren. By 20-25 fights you pretty much know what to expect of a fighter, but I think the criticism of Warren is that he milks them for all they're worth with pretty meaningless fights in front of a captive audience over here in the UK. Hatton should never have had 40+ fights by the age of 29 and fighting for real world titles; it was only a switch of promoter which gave rise to his real tests.

I think the wider selection pool in America means that they have less patience with fighters who don't progress relatively quickly; Warren has had monopoly on the UK market for too long and has undeniably held back his better fighters. Calzaghe (and Maccarinelli) should have been chasing glory. We used to criticise Sven Ottke for never leaving Germany but these two boys are stuck down in Wales in a similar fashion.
It seems that Warren only tries to make the bigger matchups when they are nearing the end of their shelf life and the economics dictate that a few big paydays are necessary. In terms of Calzaghe, the Lacy fight was the one that made the Kessler match easy, and I don't think Warren should be getting much credit for either of them. It's testament to Joe's quality that people would want to come over to Wales to fight him.

All credit to Haye, who has gone and done it and despite his flashness has shown a real appetite for glory by going to France to fight Mormeck and now staying at Cruiser to fight Maccarinelli. I can't pick a winner; it's too close to call, but I hope Haye does it, and needless to say, explosively.

Hatton wouldn't of got to that level without Warren, If he was with another UK promoter, he would of been thrown In the lions den too early and no one would of been talking about him much now.

Too many promoters have brought on there guys terribly when some did have that potential. American fighters were brought on too fast too like David Reid.

All Boxing has In America at the moment Is Floyd Mayweather, the rest are latin and Filipino fighters. They have some prospects, but they recycle guys like De La Hoya, Vargas or Mosley mostly at the moment. Ground doesn't matter If they fight good fighters. Who started this home ground bs?

[Autobarn]

Haye has indeed improved from the man who lost to Thompson. He paces himself and if we needed any proof, he let early KOs come naturally (Gurov), and gritted out tough patches (Frago, Mormeck) to win via late KOs.

But he may not have enough in the tank for this one, and all I'm saying is he may need an early stoppage. One thing is sure, if he rocks Enzo I'll bet he'll do everything to go for the kill.

OR, he may have to jar Enzo quite a lot in the early going, and absolutely batter his midsection with those big rights to the torso (certainly the Enzo chin is catchable and the Enzo body is big target enough). Deplete Enzo, and try to gain an investment that will grow as the fight goes along.

Anyway, the fight is on, no going back etc. It will be thrilling. Haye does tend to do better vs European upright stylists (rather than those stocky compact sluggers) and Enzo lacks the natural speed of Haye. Big Mac's strengths are more workmanlike, aided by his heavy duty power and fine schooling.

[Max Molyneux]

I don't rate Pavlik much though, fair enough he won his title but Taylor seems timid and didn't go Mortal Kombat on him when he hurt Kelly. I thought Spinks beat Taylor too. Kelly's defence Is terrible and seems mostly a brawler who has a size advantage at Middle.

I wish Calzaghe would chase a real LHW as Hopkins Is a recycled HBO PPV fighter who wants once a year fighters. You mentioned Dawson, Calzaghe should fight someone like him.

Not seen Paulie but If he has a belt and Is a big draw, Witter deserves the exposure after all the hard work he has put Into becoming a champ.

[WildWaylon]

Ha ha, you joker! So an aging Calzaghe, after a record number of defences, FINALLY fights Kessler (a fighter half the world weren't even familiar with, even if he was pretty good) and NOW FW is a legend?! It's like waiting for a bloody lunar eclipse, but I suppose some people are easily pleased.

I think your brain must be puddled walking round upside down - Kessler was a genuine two belt champ and Joe as fit as a butchers dog beat him - Fair play to Warren for putting in the work to get this fight on, better late than never - This is the first of the fights we thought we would never see - Hatton/Witter next and lets pray Calzaghe/Froch before Joe quits and most of us will be more than happy.

My point is that we waited like 10 bloody years for such a fight and all of a sudden FW is a hero.

Yes I agree it shouldnt suddenly elevate Warren to hero status - He has over protected his fighters for years and we have all been pissed off with that but now there is a golden age of oportunity - Boxing is back and with the right matchups it can be and is exciting once more - I think FW has had to think again since ITV said no more to obviously one sided fights on his bills - Setanta wont put up with it either so its better fights or they will drop him also - ITV wanted Haye/Macca badly, they told me so in an email a couple of years back - This was a difficult fight to get and I am sure under pressure Warren has fought hard to get it made and for that he does deserve credit for doing so - Khan/Earl was potentially a good matchup and lets hope Mitchell/Johanssen is.

[black panther]

This is fanatastic news - can't wait for this one. I have been really impressed with Enzo - he's improved a lot since the fight with Bruce Scott but I will defnitely be cheering for Haye since it looks like he's the one who went all out to make this fight happen. Will the fight be on Setanta or ITV?

[WildWaylon]

Lets be perfectly honest Enzo and David both have the capability of KOing the other - On that basis its impossible for anyone to be absolutely certain of the outcome - Who hits the hardest, the only person who could know that is someone who has fought or sparred with both - My feeling is Enzo has the stamina advantage and if Haye cant nail him early Macca will last better and get the KO later - How Haye makes CW is a mystery so I just cant see him having 100% fitness - Mormeck was tough but past his best and after dropping Haye he had very little left - Full credit to Haye for beating Mormeck but we knew all along Mormeck had huge stamina problems - The Calzage regime is based on super fitness - Those steps at the back of the Gym, going up and down endlessly test the legs and lungs to the limit - Enzo flys up and down and for a big man makes it look easy - Enzo C will have Enzo M in perfect shape for the fight and the gameplan has to be, avoid at all costs Davids early bombs and try to take him out later - Trading big punches early on would I feel be the wrong way to go about it - As long as Enzo has good defence he should weather the early storm and go on to win - No way can Haye be as fit as he needs to be for a long fight and I see him looking for an early finish - If this fight was at HW I would have to pick Haye as the winner - Enzo wouldnt fight Haye at HW because he knows he would have a huge disadvantage with Haye being at his more natural weight - At CW the cards are Enzos favour with Haye being so weight drained, and as long as the fight goes past the middle stages Enzo will have the advantage and will be looking for taking out a very tired Haye.

[WildWaylon]

This is fanatastic news - can't wait for this one. I have been really impressed with Enzo - he's improved a lot since the fight with Bruce Scott but I will defnitely be cheering for Haye since it looks like he's the one who went all out to make this fight happen. Will the fight be on Setanta or ITV?

I could be wrong but I think its Setanta, although its a fight ITV were very keen to have.