David Haye unified three of the world cruiserweight titles in spectacular style by knocking out Enzo Maccarinelli in the second round at the O2 Arena in London early yesterday morning.
Haye defended his World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Council (WBC) titles for the fist time and captured Maccarinelli's World Boxing Organization (WBO) for winning the explosive encounter after two minutes and four seconds of the second round.
Haye improved to 21-1 (21 KOs) while Maccarinelli's record moved to 28-2 (21 Kos) after losing his world title in the fifth defense.
PHOTO: AP
Englishman Haye and Welshman Maccarinelli, both 27, entered the ring with a staggering knock-out ratio between them for a fight highly-anticipated in Britain.
Londoner Haye admitted he had struggled to make the weight limit after winning the WBC and WBA belts by knocking out Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck in November. But he delayed his move up to heavyweight to face Maccarinelli and he was not left regretting his decision in front of 18,000 fans.
Both boxers have proven to be brutal and brittle in their careers, knocking out most of their opponents while being prone to be staggered, floored or stopped.
So it was understandable that both adopted a cautious approach in the first round, with Haye landing the best shot, a left hook.
But Haye opened up in the second session and landed another big shot at the start of the second, a right that landed on Maccarinelli's temple.
It was a forewarning of what was to come as Haye dropped another concussive blow with his right fist onto his opponent's head which shook Maccarinelli.
Haye seized on Maccarinelli, raining blows down on his head and bringing up a left uppercut before the Welshman sunk to his knees.
The effect of Haye's blows were obvious when Maccarinelli stumbled about the ring on legs of jelly looking to continue. But as referee Keane looked to give Maccarinelli a count, he decided the Welshman's senses were scrambled and waved the fight off.
PETER WINS WORLD TITLE
AP, CANCUN, MEXICO
Nigeria's Samuel Peter stopped Kazakhstan-born, US-based Oleg Maskaev in the final seconds of the sixth round on Saturday, claiming the Russian's WBC heavyweight title with a flurry of powerful punches.
Peter, (30-1, 23 KOs), nicknamed the Nigerian nightmare, was more potent and more poised than the 39-year-old champion at Plaza de Toros, Cancun's bullfighting ring and the unlikely site of Mexico's first heavyweight title fight.
After two slow opening rounds, Peter staggered Maskaev with a prolonged burst of power punches, chasing him from one post to the next. Maskaev's knees buckled, but he stayed up.
In the sixth round, Peter landed a devastating right hand. Maskaev came up woozy, and Peter pursued him relentlessly, landing more than a dozen shots before the referee stepped in to end the fight with 4 seconds left in the round.
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