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What is boxing's most ignored division, past the 105-pounders? It just might be the cruiserweights.
The division that features fighters the size of Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano is the only real destination for big boy action in the sweet science nowadays, as Jabimir Klitschko and his dullard minions occupy the top spots of the heavyweight division, all of them too "smart" and "business-savvy" to engage in much of a fight with anyone.
The rare "action" heavyweight like Cristobal Arreola is lauded as the future of the division, when he compares favorably to maybe a journeyman fighter of the division during its golden age. Simply put, when I'm hoping that somehow David Tua gets a crack at a heavyweight title and knocks someone out, the division is not in good shape. For all the positive steps we try to give the division credit for, the fights remain crap.
You won't see that on Saturday night, when Showtime presents David Haye taking on Enzo Maccarinelli, live from London for the world cruiserweight title.
These men are punchers. They're fighters. They're guys that look for the knockout and don't consider what their strategy will be for the championship rounds. They don't expect it to go that far, and matched up with one another, it will take a pretty remarkable effort from the chins of both men for it to happen.
Before he first Vazquez-Marquez fight last year, the two fighters guaranteed action. Marquez said he would give his life if necessary. Vazquez said it would be Fight of the Year (he was wrong, but only because they topped it later).
Haye and Maccarinelli are making similar boasts. Said Haye, "I guarantee this is going to be going off. This is going to be a mind storm of a great fight."
Maccarinelli, who spars with Joe Calzaghe and trains under Enzo Calzaghe, is 27 years old, with a 28-1 (21) record. He currently holds the WBO cruiserweight strap, which will be up for grabs along with Haye's WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine titles. His only loss came in his fourth pro fight, eight years ago. So long ago that it means nothing today.
As for Haye, he's a talker. The 27-year old Londoner is 20-1 with 19 knockouts, including his upset pounding of former champ Jean-Marc Mormeck in France last November.
Both guys can punch, and both are tall, with frames that would make many heavyweights envious. Haye stands 6'3", and Maccarinelli an inch taller at 6'4". And speaking of the heavyweights, Haye's destination is the sport's alleged money division -- how it's still considered as such when every money fight in the sport is fought at much lower weights is beyond me, but that's a debate for another day.
During press conferences, he has lambasted the heavyweight division and Wladimir Klitschko in particular, calling his fight against Sultan Ibragimov an embarrassment to boxing, and saying that Wladimir should be stripped of his titles because of his performance.
But while Haye has been talking about his inevitable move to heavyweight (making 200 pounds takes a toll on his body, and this is nothing new), Maccarinelli has expressed no such plans.
David Haye wants to unify the titles in a different division. Enzo Maccarinelli is only concerned with beating David Haye. Will that make any difference?
The question when considering which of Saturday night's cards to watch live is this: Do you want to see a fight that guarantees to be entertaining, or do you want to continue to pretend that the heavyweight division is the mecca of boxing? Sure, Juan Diaz-Nate Campbell should be a pretty good fight, but I'd bet my last dollar that Haye-Maccarinelli steals the show on Saturday night.
When in doubt, go with excitement. David Haye and Enzo Maccarinelli aren't likely to let us down. Maskaev and Peter almost certainly are.
And as far as all that goes, give me the cruiserweights over the heavyweights any day of the week. When it's all said and done on Saturday, compare Haye-Maccarinelli and Klitschko-Ibragimov and tell me what the winning fight was, because they're for similar stakes. I bet you don't hear 20,000 booing patrons at the O2 Arena.