Heavy gamble by Haye, but is Enzo worth weighting for?

Boxing's super-bouts are stacking up like planes over Heathrow, but Haye is gambling a lucrative future as a heavyweight by confronting Maccarinelli in the lighter cruiserweight division.

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It'll be a belter: Haye (right) and Maccarinelli show off the spoils of their title victories outside the O2 Arena

At stake in the ring at London's O2 Arena in the early hours of March 9 will be three of the four marquee cruiserweight belts as well as the prestigious Ring magazine title as the world's best 200lb fighter.

Sticks of dynamite were the promotional tool for Monday's unveiling of the biggest all-British clash since Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank.

Haye, recently ennobled World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) champion, is expected to collect a £1million purse for postponing his graduation to heavyweight.

He was negotiating to face Hasim Rahman at the top weight before his advisers struck a deal with the hard-punching Maccarinelli from the same south Wales stable as Joe Calzaghe — himself close to agreeing terms with Bernard 'The Executioner' Hopkins.

Maccarinelli's prime advantage is that the better-fancied Haye had to starve himself to make the cruiser limit before knocking out France's Jean-Marc Mormeck in Paris: the most recent in a spectacular run of British world title victories.

The Londoner will have his weight monitored by the British Boxing Board of Control to stop him 'wasting' in the days leading up to the fight.

While Haye trains at the same Cyprus base he used for the Mormeck bout, Maccarinelli will be honed by Calzaghe's father, Enzo, the 2007 trainer of the year, who said: 'Everyone's talking about Haye's left hook so already you see he's one-dimensional.'

The battleground was laid out in a cinema but this is no popcorn contest. It will be shown live on Showtime in America (hence the 1am-2am start) and could sell out the 20,000-seat former Dome.

'I got loads of emails from friends who want me to fight now at heavyweight,' said Haye. 'They saw the snippet of me knocking out Tomasz Bonin (at Wembley in April) pretty much effortlessly and said they want more.

'They saw me get knocked down by Mormeck and they were entertained but not happy. A lot of people are worrying and that's going to make it even more exciting.

'They must know I wouldn't take a fight unless I was 100 per cent positive I could win. There's nobody out there at heavyweight. Line 'em up and I'll take them out. I wouldn't want to fight tomato cans, one after the other, and get stick from the press and public.'

This familiar braggadocio is misleading. Haye and Maccarinelli are two of the most engaging gladiators. Haye said: 'We don't need to turn tables over and scream and shout.'

Both have lost only once in a combined 50 outings, are explosive punchers and have been on the deck. Thus Maccarinelli predicts '12 of the most brutal rounds in British boxing history', although few expect it to last that long.

Haye went on: 'I believe I'm the best in the world and I don't care who I fight at whatever weight. I know I punch harder than him, I know I'm faster than him. I've fought better opponents than him. He's had his own way, fighting guys on very short notice. Most of my opponents have had six-to-eight weeks to prepare.'

The promoter Frank Warren promised firework connoisseurs a treat. He said: 'As soon as these guys get in the ring they put the foot on the gas pedal and off they go.'

Only Haye's friends will recoil at that prediction.