OUTSTANDING HAYE STUNS ENZO
David Haye made a statement of intent for his first heavyweight opponent after a second-round knockout of Enzo Maccarinelli.
WBC and WBA champion Haye may have taken an age to make his way to the ring for Sunday morning's cruiserweight unification bout with Enzo Maccarinelli but he wasted no time in finishing the Swansea fighter to add the WBO title to his collection.
Haye caught Maccarinelli with a savage right hand which had the Calzaghe-backed Enzo reeling and despite rising quickly, Haye backed the 27-year-old into a corner and took control, forcing referee John Keane to halt the contest after 2:04 in the second round.
It was a disappointment to many of the 20,000 who packed into the O2 Arena for the 2:15am bout which had been dubbed as the biggest all-British fight since Eubank-Benn in 1993 but nevertheless, Haye claimed that the performance was the perfect way to answer his critics before making the move to heavyweight division.
"A lot of people said Enzo could beat me, so this is what had to happen before I moved up to heavyweight and became the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world," said South London's Haye, who now has 21 wins (20 KOs) and one defeat.
"There'll be just as many people doubting me as there were doubting me before this fight, saying I'm too small, I've got no chin, no stamina.
"But I'm 100% certain that I'll achieve more things at heavyweight than I have done at cruiserweight.
"I'd fight [IBF and WBO heavyweight champion] Wladimir Klitschko in my next fight if I could after his pitiful fight against Sultan Ibragimov.
"That was embarrassing and he wouldn't look forward to fighting someone with my kind of style - powerful, explosive and able to take him out with any shot.
"I'll work my way up the rankings, I'm not looking at taking shortcuts, and you guys will get a real entertaining ride.
"I'm not looking at boxing into my 31st year, so I've got two and a half years to get the job done. If the titles get unified, hopefully I'll just have to fight one guy."
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