Enzo Maccarinelli boxer

Enzo Maccarinelli (born 20 August 1980) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2016. He held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2006 to 2008, and the European and British cruiserweight titles between 2010 and 2012.Maccarinelli was born in Swansea to Elizabeth (née Leyshon) and Mario Maccarinelli. His father had emigrated to Wales in the 1950s from Lake Garda in Italy. Mario had been a boxing champion in the Italian army and had continued his boxing career in South Wales, competing in local amateur events. Mario took over ownership of Bonymaen Amateur Boxing Club in 1985 and encouraged Maccarinelli into the sport from a young age. Enzo began attending the gym from the age of four before properly beginning training at the age of eight and having his first competitive fight at ten. Maccarinelli also took up kickboxing and achieved a brown belt in the discipline.He won his first youth title the same year and won eight more during his early career. Maccarinelli's lifestyle soon affected his fights as he often skipped training to meet with friends. His father later remarked that "Enzo wasn’t preparing himself properly  ... he was overweight as he wouldn’t stop eating. He wouldn’t listen to me." However, his father continued that, in Enzo "We knew we had something special". As a teenager, Maccarinelli worked as an apprentice bricklayer alongside his boxing after leaving school but gave up the profession after suffering a fractured bone in his hand when a falling breeze block landed on it.Maccarinelli turned professional in 1999, but employed a new trainer after parting ways with his father who noted "I couldn’t push him to be world champion because he’d answer me back". The pair instead hired Charlie Pearson, a former trainer of Nicky Piper. Maccarinelli made his professional debut on 2 October 1999 against Paul Bonson, winning a points decision over four rounds at the Cardiff International Arena. In the following four months, he won two further fights, both by TKO.