Calzaghe: "Maccarinelli, Don't Blame My Dad For The Loss"
By Mark Vester
Joe Calzaghe is speaking out in defense of his father, Enzo Calzaghe, who trains cruiserweight contender Enzo Maccarinelli. Last Saturday in Manchester, Maccarinelli was knocked out in nine rounds by Ola Afolabi. Macca was the favorite coming in and the loss was shocking to some.
Following the defeat, Macca placed a lot of blame on trainer Enzo Calzaghe. He said Enzo did not properly train him for the fight and spent too much time in court with Joe, who was fighting a legal battle with former promoter Frank Warren. Joe is good friends with Macca but he won't let his father take the fall for the loss.
"Enzo wasn’t at his best from the first bell, but he’s clearly a class above the guy he fought because even when not at his best, he was still winning virtually every round. However, as a fighter you know when someone is struggling and I was getting very twitchy as the fight went on, because Enzo just seemed so flat, so far short of his usual level of performance," Joe said to Campaign Series.
"Obviously, what was disappointing was the blame game that started afterwards, Enzo saying it was because of a lack of sparring and that he will have to think about his future with dad as his trainer. I don’t think it was fair to point the finger at dad for being in court, it was just unfortunate. Enzo knew dad was going to be in London and to be fair, dad doesn’t decide on what dates Enzo or Bradley fight."
"I think that Enzo’s ‘ring rust’ played a massive part in the loss. No amount of sparring can prepare you for actually stepping in the ring and Enzo essentially boxed four rounds in 16 months before fighting on Saturday."
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