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Big Mac Gets Beered
Up for Afolabi
HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 4, 2009) &endash;
Former WBO cruiserweight champion Enzo
Maccarinelli has been working on a unique
training method for his March 14th WBO
cruiserweight title fight against NABO
title-holder Ola "Kryptonite" Afolabi,
headlined by the showdown between
22-year-old lightweight prospect Amir Khan
and Hall of Fame bound multiple world
champion, "The Baby Faced Assassin"Marco
Antonio Barrera, on pay-per-view love from
The M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, United
Kingdom.
WBO No. 1 contender Maccarinelli (29-2,
22 KOs) recently revealed his secret for
his clash with No. 2 rated Afolabi
(13-1-3, 5 KOs), who now has famed trainer
Freddie Roach working his corner, for
their vacant WBO cruiserweight
championship bout &endash; a dozen beer
barrels. The Welshman has been lifting,
not draining, them to improve his strength
and conditioning.
Integrated Sports is distributing three
12-round championship bouts featured on
the "Khan-Barrera" pay-per-view card,
presented by Frank Warren, in North
America for live viewing at 4 PM/ET
&endash; 1 PM/PTon cable and satellite
pay-per-view via iN Demand, TVN, DirecTV
and Dish Network in the United States, as
well as Viewer's Choice, Shaw Cable, Star
Choice and Bell TV in Canada, for a
suggested retail price of only $24.95.
Veteran blow-by-blow announcer Ian Darke
and color analyst, former WBC lightweight
champion Jim Watt, will be calling the
action from ringside for Sky Box Office
and Integrated Sports PPV.
The Ring No. 6 rated Maccarinelli
balances half-full kegs over his head to
increase his core muscle power, in
addition to beating car tires with a
sledgehammer. "I've tried lifting weights
before but it's not really my kind of
thing," Mazzarinelli explained. "So, when
a pal of mine suggested something a bit
different, I jumped at the chance. It's a
bit tempting to crack open one of the
barrels after a hard day's training, but
I'll leave that until after the fight.
"I'm desperate to get in the ring and
take out all my frustrations on Afolabi.
2008 was a bit of a disaster after I lost
to David Haye and then couldn't win back
my WBO title. But 2009 is going to be my
time. I hear that Afolabi is a bit of a
nightmare and dangerous, but that's just
what I wanted. I want to face the best and
beat the best, so as far as I'm concerned,
bring on the 14th. I am going to unleash
hell once I get between those ropes."
The 12-round main event finds Khan
(19-1, 15 KOs), 2004 Olympic silver
medallist, defending his WBA International
lightweight crown against WBO No. 1 ranked
Barrera (65-6, 43 KOs).
In addition to Khan-Barrera and
Maccarinelli-Afolabi, another terrific
fight will be shown on PPV as WBO super
middleweight champion Nicky "Cookie" Cook
(29-1, 16 KOs) defends his title belt
against undefeated No. 1 contender Roman
"Rocky" Martinez (21-0-1, 12 KOs).
Former European champion Cook, rated
No. 6 by The Ring, won the WBO super
featherweight title via a 12-round
unanimous decision in his last fight
against Alex Arthur (26-1). NABO super
featherweight title-holder Martinez,
fighting out of his native Puerto Rico, is
ranked WBA No. 9 by The Ring.
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