David Haye unified three of the world cruiserweight titles in spectacular style by knocking out Enzo Maccarinelli in the second round at the O2 Arena in London early yesterday morning.
Haye defended his World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Council (WBC) titles for the fist time and captured Maccarinelli's World Boxing Organization (WBO) for winning the explosive encounter after two minutes and four seconds of the second round.
Haye improved to 21-1 (21 KOs) while Maccarinelli's record moved to 28-2 (21 Kos) after losing his world title in the fifth defense.
PHOTO: AP
Englishman Haye and Welshman Maccarinelli, both 27, entered the ring with a staggering knock-out ratio between them for a fight highly-anticipated in Britain.
Londoner Haye admitted he had struggled to make the weight limit after winning the WBC and WBA belts by knocking out Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck in November. But he delayed his move up to heavyweight to face Maccarinelli and he was not left regretting his decision in front of 18,000 fans.
Both boxers have proven to be brutal and brittle in their careers, knocking out most of their opponents while being prone to be staggered, floored or stopped.
So it was understandable that both adopted a cautious approach in the first round, with Haye landing the best shot, a left hook.
But Haye opened up in the second session and landed another big shot at the start of the second, a right that landed on Maccarinelli's temple.
It was a forewarning of what was to come as Haye dropped another concussive blow with his right fist onto his opponent's head which shook Maccarinelli.
Haye seized on Maccarinelli, raining blows down on his head and bringing up a left uppercut before the Welshman sunk to his knees.
The effect of Haye's blows were obvious when Maccarinelli stumbled about the ring on legs of jelly looking to continue. But as referee Keane looked to give Maccarinelli a count, he decided the Welshman's senses were scrambled and waved the fight off.
PETER WINS WORLD TITLE
AP, CANCUN, MEXICO
Nigeria's Samuel Peter stopped Kazakhstan-born, US-based Oleg Maskaev in the final seconds of the sixth round on Saturday, claiming the Russian's WBC heavyweight title with a flurry of powerful punches.
Peter, (30-1, 23 KOs), nicknamed the Nigerian nightmare, was more potent and more poised than the 39-year-old champion at Plaza de Toros, Cancun's bullfighting ring and the unlikely site of Mexico's first heavyweight title fight.
After two slow opening rounds, Peter staggered Maskaev with a prolonged burst of power punches, chasing him from one post to the next. Maskaev's knees buckled, but he stayed up.
In the sixth round, Peter landed a devastating right hand. Maskaev came up woozy, and Peter pursued him relentlessly, landing more than a dozen shots before the referee stepped in to end the fight with 4 seconds left in the round.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
RSS