WHAT a huge weekend for boxing, I can almost taste the beer now as I get ready to settle in front of the television to watch what should be an unforgettable night of action tomorrow.

Huge fights, both in Britain and in the US, with of course none more important to me than the WBO cruiserweight title fight between Enzo Maccarinelli and Francisco Alvarez.

What a shame for Enzo that he faces a stand-in opponent that I think it is fair to say, very few of us have heard of.

Jonathon Banks represented a great challenge and would’ve been a superb opponent for Enzo – as styles make fights as I have said.

Unfortunately, Banks has cried off with an ankle injury, though the consolation for Enzo is that this will still be a world title fight.

It’s strange, this year I have had to give up world titles to pursue the best opponents out there, but it’s very different for Enzo.

His division is pretty loaded with talent and it means the world to Macca to be a champion, losing his belts to David Haye hit him hard.

As I said at the time, it was just one of those nights, Enzo wasn’t right going into the fight because of flu and his self-doubt was exploited by Haye who proved that he has the power to stop quality opponents.

But that was then. For the past eight months, Enzo has been as dedicated in the gym as any fighter I have known in my 20-odd years in the sport.

There is barely a single member of the stable, myself included, who hasn’t suffered some kind of war wound sparring with Enzo!

He’s a great fighter, I truly believe that, but in the past few months he’s been a tricky sparring partner at times, because he hits so hard.

He’s frustrated, he has not enjoyed waiting around for an opportunity to put right the Haye defeat and I feel sorry for the guy who has to step into the ring with him on Saturday.

I won’t be there at ringside unfortunately, but I will be watching and cheering Enzo on and I am certain he will win, more than likely by KO.

2009 will be a big year for the ‘Big Macc’ and we are all looking forward to seeing him get back to winning ways.

Another man in action on Saturday in the UK is Carl Froch, who fights against Jean Pascal for my old WBC super middleweight title.

I will try to watch that one as well, obviously for the sake of British boxing I hope Froch does it.

He’s a decent professional and I don’t have any personal issues against him, even though for the past five years he’s built his own reputation by constantly calling me out and demanding I fight him in a Battle of Britain.

The reality is, I think it’s very unlikely that will ever happen.

Carl Froch is not a bad fighter, but he’s mediocre, there are 1,000,000 Froch’s out there, he’s beaten nobody and proved nothing.

I wouldn’t consider fighting him until he’s been in a high calibre contest, if he fought and beat a Mikkel Kessler or a Jeff Lacy then perhaps he would be a viable option and could drag me back into the ring. But in all honesty, he isn’t good enough to beat a Kessler.

Saturday is a 50/50 fight, but hopefully Froch will join Enzo in bringing another world title back to Britain.

I would also like to wish Amir Khan the best of luck, he fights on the undercard of the Enzo bill and hopefully will get back to winning ways, he’s still talented, a potential world champion.

Sometimes recovering from a defeat is the truest measure of a fighter and Amir is a smashing lad as well.

The biggest fight of the night – globally speaking – is the Las Vegas super clash between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao.

For me this one is a no-brainer, unless Oscar is completely shot then he wins this fight hands down.

Pacquiao is a magnificent fighter and rightly features highly on all the pound-for-pound lists, but this is such a big challenge for him and I mean that literally.

Remember Pacquiao has already lost three fights, two by KO and for my money Juan Marquez beat him twice as well, though Pacquiao got the judges verdict both times.

So he can be put down and with the huge size advantage De La Hoya has, I can’t look beyond him for the win.

It’s like me going in against a welterweight, however skilled Manny is, he’s going to be hit by a guy who is a lot stronger.

After the super night of boxing, Sunday is the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2008 and I will be there as I am one of the nominees.

If I were to win it would be for the fourth time, which has never been done before, so obviously it would be a huge honour.

The Olympians like Nicole Cooke are bound to feature and Shane Williams has had a marvellous year, so it’s tough to call who will win.

But at least this year I will be able to enjoy a couple of pints, as unlike last year, I won’t be watching my wasteline ahead of my next fight!