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After unifying the cruiserweight championship with a stunning knockout win over Enzo Maccarinelli, London’s David Haye begins his assault on the heavyweight division when he takes on American Monte Barrett tonight.
London’s 02 Arena is the venue and its a location that both men know very well. Back in July 2000, Barrett faced then contender Wladimir Klitschko and lasted seven rounds against the giant Ukrainian before succumbing.
As for Haye, this venue saw arguably his most destructive performance when he took out fellow power puncher Enzo Maccarinelli in two rounds in March of this year.
For me, Barrett is a man who was always close but didn’t quite hit the peaks as a heavyweight. In fact, the majority of his six defeats have all come in bouts where he has been classed as “the opponent”. The Klitschko fight aside, his other notable defeats were against the likes of Joe Mesi, Nikolay Valuev and Hasim Rahman.
Haye for me seems to be a man intent on making a big impact in the heavyweight division. His sole defeat against Carl Thompson seems an age ago. His confidence can be proven when he travelled to France a year ago and survived an early knockdown before KO’ing veteran Jean Marc Mormeck to win two versions of the World Cruiserweight Championship.
In analysing this fight, Haye for me has chosen the perfect opponent; Barrett is a name but is not classed as a big puncher.
In front of his hometown fans, Haye will be looking to make a statement and I feel that he will do. In fact, the more and more I think about it, I think this could be an early night.
Haye by stoppage before the halfway mark.
