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Haye vs Macarinelli
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The O2, the world's most popular venue, is to host the biggest all-British world title showdown since the Nigel Benn-Chris Eubank classics in the 1990s! Dynamite-punching WBO World Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Maccarinelli and hard-hitting WBC/WBA World Champion David Haye will collide on Saturday 8th March at The O2 arena in their explosive unification fight to decide who really is THE BEST. This is the second time The O2 has hosted a major title fight since it opened at the end of June 2007. In July Amir Khan was successful in his Commonwealth lightweight title fight against Scotsman Willie Limond. Promoter Frank Warren announced the fight on Monday along with Setanta Sports 1 who will televise the fight live and exclusively. Swansea puncher Maccarinelli last fought on the Joe Calzaghe-Mikkel Kessler undercard in November, stopping Mohamed Azzaoui in the fourth round. Londoner Haye had to get up from the canvas to sensationally stop Jean Marc Mormeck in the seventh round and claim the WBC and WBA titles also in November. The punch statistics between the two are staggering: Maccarinelli has stopped 21 of his 29 opponents with 16 coming inside the first three rounds while Haye has halted 19 of his 21 opponents early with 14 inside the first three rounds. Warren has consistently staged the biggest fights in this country and is naturally excited by this one. He said, "If there is one fight I would buy a ticket to watch it would be Maccarinelli-Haye. I'm in the business of delivering big fights and this is certainly a real fight for the boxing fans and media and one that they have been clamoring for. It has all the ingredients for a potentially thrilling fight: two big names." Philip Beard, CEO of The O2, commented: "Our arena was built to host a whole range of world class sporting events so it is an ideal setting for this major bout. We're excited to have the David Haye and Enzo Maccarinelli fight headlining at The O2 for what is sure to be a spectacular night for British boxing". |
