I had the privilege of being at the O2 arena to watch David Haye v Enzo Maccarinelli at the weekend and what a night it was!

The build-up to it, the anticipation surrounding the whole fight was great. I came across a wide range of people who were at the fight and there were a wide range of opinions before the first bell.

David's approach and attitude was excellent. I spoke to him in the week before the fight and he knew he would win.

At that stage boxers can sometimes be asking themselves questions and be eager not to put themselves under extra pressure, but David was supremely confident.

He said he couldn't see how Enzo could beat him - and he was proved correct. I remember I said the same when I fought Carl Thompson. The general public kept saying to me it was going to be a tough night but I just wondered, 'what the hell are they looking at?'.

When David was speaking he reminded me of that time before I took on, and beat, Thompson.

Supreme athlete

In the ring he looked like a supreme athlete, both physically and mentally.

As a champion you have the choice to walk in the ring first or second. I'd always preferred to walk in first because it's a phychological boost.

When you're already in the ring you can stand there, look down at your opponent and eye him up while he's walking down to face you. Jack Johnson used to do it, David got the idea and it immediately told Enzo; 'I'm the boss here'.

Maccarinelli needed to warm into the bout. He needed to get some confidence off the jab or the hook. His best work is always done off the front foot.

Only once or twice did he manage to get forward. He got clipped in the first round and that seemed to change his approach completely. Instead it was Haye who was on the attack.

When Enzo got hit hard in the second the referee could have jumped in and given him a count. David did the right thing, though, putting the pressure on. Until the referee grabs you off, you go nowhere.

Now the question is what that defeat has done to Maccarinelli's confidence? Now he may doubt how good he was in the first place.

On the face of it it looked like Enzo had improved because he had some great knockouts on his record and had taken the chance to show off his skills.

But I think we all got suckered in to thinking that he was at the same level as David. In truth the Welshman had boxed only two decent opponents before - Wayne Braithwaite and Marcelo Fabian Dominguez - and both were past their best by then.

I think it's good to build a fighter's confidence up with victories but true success comes when you test yourself against someone from the next level.

This was the first time Enzo had been in the ring with someone that could hit as hard as him and was the same age. In the end, he got knocked out.

Heavy mover

As for Haye, he now has an excellent platform to move up to heavyweight. He's done what Evander Holyfield did and tied the titles up to prove his dominance of the cruiserweight division.

There's also a great gap for him to do something in a division devoid of talent. He's certainly done everything to show he can be a force to reckon with at heavyweight.

The big question will be about his weight, which is such a problem for him at cruiser. A good weight for someone at heavy would be 16 stone or just under. Anything above that slows you down, you're no longer an athlete.

The best, the likes of Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and Holyfield, have all been light on their toes. They had speed and could still mix it with the big boys.

If I was David and his management team I'd ignore any fight at domestic and European level. Now every fight he has needs to mean something.

He needs to get in with a name, a former champion, so he can raise his stock. We know he has championship credentials so my advice would be: don't take a fight against someone you don't need to deal with.

I'll put two names out there - Oliver McCall and Holyfield. They are big-name boxers I think David could beat and beat well.

They may both be past their best but that doesn't matter. He needs to be in a fight with someone who has experience at top level and is also a big draw, both here and in America.

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