37 Facts About Enzo Maccarinelli

Enzo Maccarinelli held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2006 to 2008.

Enzo Maccarinelli's father had emigrated to Wales in the 1950s from Lake Garda in Italy.

Enzo Maccarinelli began attending the gym from the age of four before properly beginning training at the age of eight and having his first competitive fight at ten.

Enzo Maccarinelli took up kickboxing and achieved a brown belt in the discipline.

Enzo Maccarinelli won his first youth title the same year and won eight more during his early career.

Enzo Maccarinelli turned professional in 1999, but employed a new trainer after parting ways with his father who noted "I couldn't push him to be world champion because he'd answer me back".

Enzo Maccarinelli made his professional debut on 2 October 1999 against Paul Bonson, winning a points decision over four rounds at the Cardiff International Arena.

Enzo Maccarinelli was regarded as a bright prospect ahead of the bout and the fight was the headline of an event broadcast in live television.

Enzo Maccarinelli had been in the ascendancy in the early rounds and had knocked down Swaby on one occasion before Swaby won the fight after stopping Maccarinelli in the third round.

Enzo Maccarinelli returned to the ring seven months later to defeat Chris Woollas on points.

Between 2001 and January 2003, Enzo Maccarinelli embarked on a winning streak, winning a further eight bouts to move onto nine consecutive wins.

Enzo Maccarinelli later revealed that he had suffered from poor eyesight since the start of his career, but had repeatedly passed the medicals by asking a friend to take the test beforehand and note the answers.

Enzo Maccarinelli went on to defeat Semiskur by TKO in the first round at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth.

On 28 June 2003, Enzo Maccarinelli fought Bruce Scott for the vacant WBU cruiserweight title.

Enzo Maccarinelli suffered a nervy start and was knocked down in the first minute by Scott but managed to get back to his feet.

Enzo Maccarinelli slowly gained the ascendancy and secured his first WBU title in the fourth round after knocking Scott out with a left hook.

Enzo Maccarinelli made his first defence of the title three months laters, stopping Estonian Andrej Karsten with an uppercut in the first minute of their bout at the Newport Centre.

Enzo Maccarinelli knocked his opponent down seven times during the bout before the fight was eventually stopped in the eighth round, the first time Maccarinelli had been past the fourth round in his career.

Enzo Maccarinelli endured a frustrating bout against Abdoul, going the full distance for the first time in his career in what Steve Bunce described as "12 seriously repetitive rounds".

Enzo Maccarinelli made seven successful defences of his WBU title before vacating.

On 8 July 2006, Enzo Maccarinelli fought against former World Boxing Council cruiserweight champion Marcelo Fabian Dominguez for the WBO interim cruiserweight title.

On 14 October 2006 Enzo Maccarinelli made his first defence of the WBO title, stopping former opponent Mark Hobson in the first round in a fight that was widely expected to last the distance.

On 21 July 2007 Enzo Maccarinelli defended his WBO cruiserweight championship against former WBC champ Wayne Braithwaite and won by unanimous decision, after dominating the match.

On 3 November 2007 Enzo Maccarinelli successfully defended his WBO cruiserweight title against Mohamed Azzaoui winning by TKO in the 4th Round.

Enzo Maccarinelli lost the fight and his WBO belt when he was knocked out in the 2nd round.

Enzo Maccarinelli won after a 2nd-round KO in what was his debut at the higher weight.

Once again the Banks fight proved to be a non-starter and instead Enzo Maccarinelli's next fight was against the American-based Londoner Ola Afolabi for the "interim" WBO title.

Enzo Maccarinelli was favoured by most observers to win, however things did not go as expected as Enzo Maccarinelli struggled in the early rounds and was staggered in the 3rd round by a short chopping right hand from the slick Afolabi.

Enzo Maccarinelli's next fight was against the unbeaten Russian Denis Lebedev on 18 July 2009.

Enzo Maccarinelli's opponent was the relatively unknown Hungarian journeyman Krisztian Jaksi.

Enzo Maccarinelli managed a second consecutive 1st-round KO victory against Hungarian opposition when he defeated Zoltan Czekus at the Echo Arena Liverpool on 13 March 2010.

The final blows were struck with such ferocity that Enzo Maccarinelli was knocked unconscious and required oxygen and medical attention before being able to leave the ring.

At the time of the fight there was heavy criticism from both journalists and fellow boxers at the decision by the referee to allow the fight to continue after the first knockdown, when it was clear that Enzo Maccarinelli was in no position to defend himself.

Exactly 14 months after his last in-ring appearance Enzo Maccarinelli's first fight at the new weight limit took place at the York Hall in Bethnal Green on 18 November 2011.

Enzo Maccarinelli emerged victorious, scoring a 1st-round TKO victory after just 99 seconds against an overmatched Marosi.

In July 2012, Enzo Maccarinelli was banned for six months after testing positive for Methylhexaneamine.

In 2015 Enzo Maccarinelli returned to cruiserweight and in December knocked out the then 46-year-old Roy Jones Jr.