 Maccarinelli is desperate to become the first Welshman to regain a world title |
Enzo Maccarinelli says new trainer Karl Ince has restored his big hitting ahead of Saturday's must-win showdown with Denis Lebedev at the MEN Arena. "Karl has not slowed down my pace and I've started throwing big shots again which I haven't done for a long time - the bombs," said the cruiserweight, 28. "He's got me turning my knuckles over, hitting correctly, sparring and keeping me fresh." Maccarinelli split with Enzo Calzaghe after two losses in three fights. The former WBO world cruiserweight champion says he is in the "last-chance saloon" when he faces Lebedev in Manchester. "Lebedev is a very, very tough fight," said the Swansea man. "You can never say never in boxing, but I'm aware that I could be in the last-chance saloon going into this one. "But I'm going to knock out Lebedev and then I'm going to get my old world title back." The showdown, on the undercard of Amir Khan's WBA light-welterweight challenge to Andreas Kotelnik, was switched from London's O2 Arena on 27 June to give Kotelnik time to recover from a tooth infection.  | 606: DEBATE |
Moscow southpaw Lebedev, 29, has won all 17 of his fights. "We have a plan, a couple of things we're going to throw at him [Lebedev]," said trainer Ince. "I want Enzo to box clever, to show him what he can do. We know what he [Lebedev] has got - he's a very good offensive player so we've worked more defensively. If we can put it all together, it should be a good night. "I think he [Maccarinelli] has got the ability to go back to the top. His head's right, he trains hard, he's a nice lad to work with, he listen and he learns. "He's put himself under a bit of pressure, saying he wanted to take this fight straight away - I've only worked with him for 10 weeks. "But we've gone back to his basics and I think that will be enough to win this fight." The bout is for the vacant WBO intercontinental cruiserweight title, with the winner expected to go on to challenge for the WBO world title. That belt was held by Maccarinelli until March 2008 when he suffered a second-round knock-out in a cruiserweight unification clash with David Haye. The Welshman stopped heavyweight Matthew Ellis in two rounds at London's ExCeL Arena last December, before suffering a shock ninth-round knock-out to Ola Afolabi in March, his third defeat in 32 fights. "[The Lebedev fight is] even more dangerous than the Haye fight," said Maccarinelli. "If I lost against David, then there was always a way back. "If I lose against Lebedev then it's going to be that much tougher to make it to the top. "But if I win it then I'll have a great chance to get back." *Listen to Barry McGuigan's views on Maccarinelli on BBC Radio Wales' The Back Page on Saturday, 18 June, 0830-0900 BST then on demand on iPlayer
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