WBO world cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli has urged David Haye to stop messing around with "weak" opponents and face a real fighter.
Londoner Haye became the WBC's number one contender for O'Neil Bell's world titles when he overcame severe cuts to knock out Giacobbe Fragomeni in the ninth round of their European title fight earlier this month.
But Maccarinelli, in training for a March 3 Millennium Stadium tilt against an unnamed opponent, believes Hayes' ascent is down to some clever management and weak opponents.
He said: "His record (18 wins and one loss), I think, has been padded out a bit by fights against weaker fighters.
"He hasn't been in the ring with someone like me, despite allegedly trying to make the fight.
"Fair play, he has done well for himself and climbed the rankings, but I think he has avoided most of the good names."
Maccarinelli was, however, impressed by Haye's determination in seeing off Fragomeni and would relish the chance to face the winner of his clash with Jamaican Bell in a unification bout.
He added: "He proved he had heart and could take a punch, which he needed to prove, but he didn't have much coming at him to be fair. I didn't really expect him to lose that one to be honest.
"But he fought a great fight, and those who said he had stamina problems were proved wrong.
"I don't care who they put in front of me. I just want to fight.
"If it's Bell then great, I believe we are the two best in the world in this division.
"And if it's Haye, then fantastic. He is a good fighter, he's British, and we would be fighting for a unified title.
"Either way, if I could get in the ring with either of them, it would be a great fight for the public and a good payday.
"I really don't think either of them could cope with my power.
"But there's a lot of politics in boxing; the fight might seem logical, but it takes a lot of work to make it happen."
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Regardless, the fight should be made. I for one would pay to see it. I believe Haye wins. But it's a great domestci fight. A fight the fams want, I would think?
As much as I like Enzo, he's being a bit cheeky criticising anyone's opposition. He's fought some real corpses. Still, I'm glad he's mentioning Haye these days, I'd love to see Maccarinelli-Haye.
Idle chit-chat. I suspect that Maccarinelli knows it too. Haye's career path has taken him away from Macca now. Haye isn't going to stay at cruiser just to fight for the WBO belt when he's primed to fight the real cruiserweight champion.
Commendable to be calling out Haye but i think Enzo knows they are moving further apart with Haye going for WBC title the proper route while Macca fights for paper titles. Still, i must agree wholeheartedly with the previous points raised, Haye's path so far has had much stiffer tests than Macarinelli's. No disrepect to Enzo who i rate, but he has fought much worse opposition than Haye.
I still hold out hope that Maccarinelli-Haye could happen. Haye is to be applauded for aiming for the WBC belt and the real title, but just how close is to getting his shot in reality? Eastman and Witter can tell you just how easy it is to get your shot, regardless of any final eliminator you may have won, or any lofty ranking you may hold.
Mormeck is Bell's mandatory WBC defence, so if he wins that, he'll have a fair while before he has to make the next one, won't he? He could potentially leave Haye hanging on for 12 months or more at 200lb's. And if the weight is as big an issue as Haye says, he could be tempted into a fight with Enzo, if he doesn't want to wait too long before going to heavyweight.
The more time the better for Haye. Personally I think he needs another year to 18 months before he mixes with Bell or Mormeck. He's ready for the likes of Macca and Wlodarczyk now though.
Taki... wrote:The more time the better for Haye. Personally I think he needs another year to 18 months before he mixes with Bell or Mormeck. He's ready for the likes of Macca and Wlodarczyk now though.
Haye will never be a Cruiserweight in 12/18 months time. I think he has got about 4 fight max left at the weight. I hope one of these will include Enzo.
It will be a crying shame that we have two top 15 fighters, exciting fighters who will probably not fight each other.... its doing both careers harm.
such unbelievable cheek from macca. at pretty much every single point in their careers, haye has been fighting better guys.
Fragomeni would be a decent fight for enzo. give him a chance to try and one up haye and KO him sooner. only guy they've both fought for comparison sake is tony booth.
Do you guys really think Enzo Maccarinelli actually said any of this? :lol: This was clearly written by someone at Sports Network with some time on their hands.
Taki... wrote:The more time the better for Haye. Personally I think he needs another year to 18 months before he mixes with Bell or Mormeck. He's ready for the likes of Macca and Wlodarczyk now though.
Haye will never be a Cruiserweight in 12/18 months time. I think he has got about 4 fight max left at the weight. I hope one of these will include Enzo.
It will be a crying shame that we have two top 15 fighters, exciting fighters who will probably not fight each other.... its doing both careers harm.
Haye shouldn't be struggling to make 200lbs. If he is then he should look at his nutrition and training regime.
Taki... wrote:The more time the better for Haye. Personally I think he needs another year to 18 months before he mixes with Bell or Mormeck. He's ready for the likes of Macca and Wlodarczyk now though.
Haye will never be a Cruiserweight in 12/18 months time. I think he has got about 4 fight max left at the weight. I hope one of these will include Enzo.
It will be a crying shame that we have two top 15 fighters, exciting fighters who will probably not fight each other.... its doing both careers harm.
Haye shouldn't be struggling to make 200lbs. If he is then he should look at his nutrition and training regime.
I'm not saying your not wrong, but at this moment Haye is struggling big style with the weight. Real Deal has put up some pics of Haye at 16 stone and he looks cut. Haye even said about it in the Fragomeni fight, that he was worried about his strength in the latter rounds - but it held up.
Its a crying shame we are not getting our world class fighters to fight - as I said it does their career harm, how can they "prove" they are the best in the world, but have yet to show they are the best in the country.
Fights like.
Hatton vs Witter
Ingle vs Robinson
Ingle vs Harrison
Calzaghe vs Francis
Calzaghe vs Catley
Oliver vs Brodie
Woods vs Calzaghe
Ayers vs Schwer
etc etc etc!
I don't think it's the training, it's more of a mental thing with Haye. He's convinced himself that no matter what he does, he just can't make cruiser for much longer.
Whilst of course I could be wrong, Haye looks to me like he has added a lot of bulk to his frame in recent time. His back and shoulder muscles look a lot bigger than they did a couple of years ago, it doesn't look like natural size, but the kind of pumped physique that you get from hoiking weights around and drinking energy drinks.
When you look at a prime Tyson, although he was naturally muscular, there were no huge pecs or slab like muscles, but rather supple and taut musculature, yet Tyson was a natural 215 lb fighter. Later in his career, weighing around 225-230, it was all big thick muscles and tennis ball biceps.
If Haye has added more muscle tissue than is natural for him, then in a hard fight his stamina is likely to let him down, as all that extra muscle tissue uses more oxygen.
I think Haye sees a future for himself at heavyweight, but I'll bet with the correct training he could make Cruiser comfortably for some time yet. Haye was having to make 190 up until 3 years ago.
stujones wrote:
Haye will never be a Cruiserweight in 12/18 months time. I think he has got about 4 fight max left at the weight. I hope one of these will include Enzo.
It will be a crying shame that we have two top 15 fighters, exciting fighters who will probably not fight each other.... its doing both careers harm.
Haye shouldn't be struggling to make 200lbs. If he is then he should look at his nutrition and training regime.
I'm not saying your not wrong, but at this moment Haye is struggling big style with the weight. Real Deal has put up some pics of Haye at 16 stone and he looks cut. Haye even said about it in the Fragomeni fight, that he was worried about his strength in the latter rounds - but it held up.
Its a crying shame we are not getting our world class fighters to fight - as I said it does their career harm, how can they "prove" they are the best in the world, but have yet to show they are the best in the country.
Fights like.
Hatton vs Witter
Ingle vs Robinson
Ingle vs Harrison
Calzaghe vs Francis
Calzaghe vs Catley
Oliver vs Brodie
Woods vs Calzaghe
Ayers vs Schwer
etc etc etc!
I wouldn't be surprised if Haye was more interested in 'looking cut' than making weight. The man has tickets on himself. I can't see how moving to HW will improve his chances of winning a world title (if push comes to shove and he does move up). He should work hard to stay at cruiser for the next couple of years/
I'd say you're right to a degree. Though Harrison/Cook is refreshing exception to that trend.
Would like to see them fight,but it ain't happening.
I like both fighters,but Enzo(if he did say this)is slightly deluded.
I understand the call out,as I think Enzo needs Haye.But to say Haye has fought stiffs is a bit much coming from king stiff fighter(lets see who his next fight is against)
Enzo has NOBODY approaching world class on his record,and was given his paper title.
Unless Haye vs Mormeck/Bell is an absolute war(thus enabling to make a rematch)I see David moving up to heavy regardless if he wins or loses in his title shot.
I like Enzo,he seems a decent fella,but as I have said before(and expect to say for a few years yet unfortunately)he still has a lot to prove.
funso banjo baby wrote:lets have Haye v Hobson first
hobson is still a force ....the embarrassing abberation in the 2nd macarinelli shudnt rule him out completely
That would be considered (rightly or wrongly) a massive step backwards for Haye, ergo it wont happen (short of Hobson being called up as a replacement opponent again).
funso banjo baby wrote:lets have Haye v Hobson first
hobson is still a force ....the embarrassing abberation in the 2nd macarinelli shudnt rule him out completely
That would be considered (rightly or wrongly) a massive step backwards for Haye, ergo it wont happen (short of Hobson being called up as a replacement opponent again).
Rightly it would be a backward step, Haye is on the verge of a WBC title crack and Hobson has looked awful in his last 3 fights culminating in a KO1 defeat.
Denying the fans a Haye V Macarinelli showdown (regardless of which camps fault it is) is one of the very reasons Boxing is struggling in the duldrums while these UFC things are flourishing. Why do we have to suffer constant mismatches and badly made fights when there are two excellent Cruisers from the same shores. The fans are consistently made mugs of with people so intent on making a quick buck all the time. No wonder the sport is suffering.
steve689 wrote:Denying the fans a Haye V Macarinelli showdown (regardless of which camps fault it is) is one of the very reasons Boxing is struggling in the duldrums while these UFC things are flourishing. Why do we have to suffer constant mismatches and badly made fights when there are two excellent Cruisers from the same shores. The fans are consistently made mugs of with people so intent on making a quick buck all the time. No wonder the sport is suffering.
That sums up my feelings as well, fighlike Haye-Enzo, Hatton-Witter and Calzaghe-Woods/Froch would do wonders for the sport over here, but other than Witter and Froch they don't seem too interested in fighting each other. Look what the Eubank-Benn-Watson clashes did for the sport.
I'd prefer to see Haye-Enzo than Haye/Enzo vs Bell
yiddo14 wrote:Would like to see them fight,but it ain't happening.
I like both fighters,but Enzo(if he did say this)is slightly deluded.
I understand the call out,as I think Enzo needs Haye.But to say Haye has fought stiffs is a bit much coming from king stiff fighter(lets see who his next fight is against)
Enzo has NOBODY approaching world class on his record,and was given his paper title.
Unless Haye vs Mormeck/Bell is an absolute war(thus enabling to make a rematch)I see David moving up to heavy regardless if he wins or loses in his title shot.
I like Enzo,he seems a decent fella,but as I have said before(and expect to say for a few years yet unfortunately)he still has a lot to prove.
Wouldn't you call Marcel Dominguez at least fringe world class? He gave current WBA heavy champ Valuev a bloody good scrap only a couple of years ago, and Macca was the first to stop him.
yiddo14 wrote:Would like to see them fight,but it ain't happening.
I like both fighters,but Enzo(if he did say this)is slightly deluded.
I understand the call out,as I think Enzo needs Haye.But to say Haye has fought stiffs is a bit much coming from king stiff fighter(lets see who his next fight is against)
Enzo has NOBODY approaching world class on his record,and was given his paper title.
Unless Haye vs Mormeck/Bell is an absolute war(thus enabling to make a rematch)I see David moving up to heavy regardless if he wins or loses in his title shot.
I like Enzo,he seems a decent fella,but as I have said before(and expect to say for a few years yet unfortunately)he still has a lot to prove.
Wouldn't you call Marcel Dominguez at least fringe world class? He gave current WBA heavy champ Valuev a bloody good scrap only a couple of years ago, and Macca was the first to stop him.
Dominguez was a world level fighter years ago,not these days.
He is an old man.
I would like to see Macca in with a top 10-15 fighter,but honestly can't see it happening for some time yet.
Let's see who he fights next time out.
Does anyone know if his next fight has to be a mandatory?
Touch hypocritical to say the least.
