Boxing Perspective: Is David Haye The Great Heavyweight Hope?

© Chris Royle – Hoganphotos / Golden Boy Promotions

With David Haye’s emphatic win over ‘The Beast from the East’ recently, we have a new heavyweight champion of the world, breathing a whole new life into the somewhat lacklustre division, and as some would say, a dying sport.

When it was announced that Haye was going over to Germany to fight Nikolay Valuev, many thought that he would have to knock the giant out to take the belt from him in his back yard, and that if Haye settled for the points win, the judges would award it to Valuev on the strength that Haye did not do enough.

This is what happened to Evander Holyfield last year. In many observer’s eyes Holyfield won the fight but the judges had decided that since he was not comprehensively beating down Valuev and had failed to knock him out, that he did not deserve the win.

Although Haye beat Valuev with speed, mobility, some very nifty footwork and some adept counterpunching, many were surprised he got the decision. Chuffed and delighted, but still surprised.

Doors will now open for Haye as being the holder of one of the most prestigious titles in sport carries its accolades. Haye has appeared on T.V. chat shows, has been heard all over the radio, been in many publications and not just boxing magazines. Haye is a very marketable person and has even done some modelling before; he knows how to sell himself.

In reality, that is exactly how he jumped the queue to the Klitschko brothers, by self-hype, self-promotion and a great deal of trash talk, which gets people’s attention and thus sells the fight.

First on Hayes mandatory list is John Ruiz, 44-8-1-1 (30), one of the first men to congratulate Haye after the Valuev win and to be fair, the guy that stepped aside so Haye could have his shot with Valuev.

Ruiz is a punch and grab mauler who has lost twice to Valuev in the past and will struggle with Haye’s speed and elusiveness. Haye should stop Ruiz, and should not find too much difficulty in doing it either.

Afterward though, is where it starts getting interesting, as Haye will want unification, which means fighting the Klitschko brothers who between them hold the WBC, IBF, WBO and IBO belts.

And given the fact that Haye has been taunting them and signing fights with them only to back out, resign and then appear with t-shirts depicting their decapitated bodies, I imagine they would like to shut him up. Thus, there is a very good chance of those fights coming to fruition.

The Klitschko’s team had previously tied Haye up into a three fight clause stating that, should he beat Wladimir, he must fight Vitali and should Haye win that fight, then he would have to fight Wladimir again, this time for the belts.

A clause like that spells out they think David Haye is dangerous, and could very well beat them both, otherwise they would fight him for the belts in a normal world title contest, one after the other.

Wladimir has a suspect chin and is a rather one dimensional fighter while Vitali has a granite chin and is not so one dimensional but does not have his brother’s power. Should Haye get through the Klitschko brothers, he will be the second Brit in history to unify the division and become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, this feat last accomplished by Lennox Lewis.

The media at present are taking Haye’s own hype job and building him into something quite huge, but at the same time something quite dangerous. Some publications and journalists have put to paper that he is the second coming of the greatest, Muhammad Ali, and you can see where they get the likeness in respect of how loud and brash both are.

Haye has definitely taken a leaf out of Ali’s book when it comes to insulting the opponent’s features and the way they fight, using speed as their greatest asset.

But that is asking far too much of David Haye. Haye needs to concentrate on being the best he can be right now, not trying to fill someone else’s shoes, be it those of Ali or Lewis.

Yes, he can re-ignite the heavyweight scene, and the numbers that Haye and Valuev produced for their clash says a lot about how much people want to see Haye fight.

The major T.V. companies may be forced to step up to the plate if he continues to do well, but saying he is the sole saviour of boxing in Britain and the very hopes of the nation rest on his shoulders, and his shoulders alone, can only spell disaster the same way you spell Audley Harrison.

Haye has accomplished more than the majority of British heavyweights have ever done. He is a joy to watch, he can go all the way and dramatically help the sport, but it is still too early to tell as to his ultimate promise as a boxer.

Right now, let’s be thankful of the pairing of Adam Booth and David Haye, that they have given us what we needed in a heavyweight champion and let’s look forward to his upcoming fight with John Ruiz, once his hand has repaired itself, and hopefully the Klitschko brothers soon after that.