Enzo Maccarinelli and bad refereeing
Erkki Meronen the Finnish referee who was in charge of the Enzo Maccarinelli v Alexander Frenkel EBU cruiserweight bout on Saturday has been blasted by the boxing community for allowing the Welshman to continue after being badly knocked down by Frenkel.
It was a sickening knockout that should have never occurred. It was patently obvious to everyone watching that “Big Mac” was out on his feet following the first knockdown and neither the ref nor his corner should have let him continue.
Having largely dominated the fight, the Swansea fighter got caught with a vicious left-hander that took him clean of his feet, but he bravely clambered back up at a nine count.
Instead of waving the contest off the ref let Maccarinelli fight on giving Frenkel no choice but to finish him off. You could even sense that the German fighter could see his opponent was struggling and almost reluctantly knocked him out with a sharp left-right combination.
The quick combo saw the big Welshman hit the canvas with a sickening thud, losing consciousness and requiring oxygen to be brought into the ring.
Frank Warren was very unhappy with the referee telling the Daily Mirror: "The referee got it horribly wrong by letting it go on. It was a shame for Enzo to go out like that after all he's done."
Even old foe David Haye expressed his horror over the incident telling the BBC: "I found it extremely upsetting and sobering to watch Enzo lose like that.
"I was disgusted with the way the referee and Enzo's own corner allowed him to continue to fight on. He was hit by a huge left-hook, went down as though he'd been knocked clean out, and then somehow bravely pulled himself to his feet.
"Anybody who knows boxing - and anybody who knows Enzo - would have been aware that the fight should have been stopped immediately. He was in a far worse state following that first knockdown on Saturday than he was when I stopped him.
"However, the referee and corner stupidly allowed him to continue and we all saw what happened next. What were these people expecting Enzo to do at that stage?”
What was Meronen thinking? Sure, Maccarinelli had dominated proceedings, but Frenkel had caught him with a flush punch and it was over.
Even if Maccarinelli wanted to fight on he was in no state to and the fact he only just beat a nine count shows he was in no position to defend himself. It’s at times like that when it needs to remembered that boxing is only a sport and its foolish refereeing like that where people can get seriously hurt.
Surprisingly Maccarinelli said he is thinking about giving it one more shot.
Let’s hope if he does get back in the ring it’s with competent officials
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