What a gamble.
How David Haye and trainer Adam Booth ever grew balls big enough to imagine they could hop on a plane to Germany….engage Nikolay Valuev in a straight up fencing contest…..using a strategy involving minimal punch output……and then nick a decision….in a land where they usually spot the home fighter four rounds before the bell chimes, is beyond me.
Hence why I do what I do (for my sins) and they’re partying like it’s 2007, which was the last time they invaded enemy soil and came up smelling of roses.
Watching the fight with a gaggle of friends (just like the old days……sniff), I worried for Bermondsey’s boy wonder when Garcia Reyes returned a 114-114 card, yet was overjoyed when the other two judges saw sense in returning winning cards for ‘The Hayemaker’.
Blind patriotism? Nope, not guilty, not this Brit anyway, I was happy because it was the correct decision, which is something which can never be taken for granted in this wonderful sport of ours. Sure Haye was economical with his punching (this is a guy whose trainer used to count the number of shots he threw each session lest we forget), however a handful of shots landed beats none whatsoever, which was precisely the number Valuev got home.
Valuev has rather disturbingly perfected the art of winning rounds without landing on his opponent (Willie Pep myth makers take note). Due to his sheer mass, his domination of centre ring is a given and his slow as molasses advancement upon his opponent actually manages to persuade some judges that he’s worthy of the round, which is quite frankly a disgrace. Good judges are hard to come by and many can’t seem distinguish between controlling a fight with minimal scoring shots (a good example being Carl Froch’s much debated win over Andre Dirrell) and merely controlling the patch of canvas you’re standing on because you’re two immense to move off it.
Rumours that Don King is to promote one half of the EU butter mountain have yet to be confirmed officially, however the WBA are keen to match John Ruiz with said additive in order to earn next crack at Haye.
Badam………..tish.
It was plenty tedious, which is a bad thing, due to the fact there were an untold number of non-boxing obsessed eyeballs fixed on the sport for the first time in a long time, yet here’s the strange thing: people can’t stop talking about David Haye.
The man’s triumph has absolutely saturated the news, which has been music to my ears, especially as Haye has charisma in bucket loads. Come back to the light casual boxing fans, come into the water, it’s warm and tranquil……..and Manny Pacquiao fights Miguel Cotto on free tv next weekend…….take the bait my friends, it’s perched on the end of that shiny new hook……….
Haye’s flavour of the month in the UK right now, however I gather he’s rather less popular just over the drink. The US don’t get him and don’t like him, partly because they don’t trust his ability and mostly because they feel he’s boorish and a braggart. Yes you read that last part correctly.
Maybe it’s the way he’s been marketed Stateside (like Lennox Lewis’ infamous tea drinking commercial) or maybe Haye’s act doesn’t travel well, a bit like some of our finest comedy (did you see what the shit they did with The Office?). Ring TV’s Michael Rosenthal (who I seem to be picking on quite a bit lately) doesn’t even attempt to hide his distaste for the new titlist, suggesting that Haye may have actually planned to pull out of both Klitschko fights to garner publicity for himself. I mean dear oh deary me…………
I don’t see what’s not to like personally. Haye speaks a lot of sense.
The heavyweight division has become something of a bad joke since the retirement of Lennox Lewis. The way to beat these huge behemoths is to get in shape and outwork them (which ok, he barely managed against the big Russian), not to eat like a fat lad to match their poundage (quick note guys, muscle mass and height doesn’t increase no matter how many pies you throw down your gullet).
Haye says what everyone else thinks so I struggle to understand why everyone’s on his back for wearing a goddam t-shirt and calling Valuev ugly (although I can understand his ma kicking his butt for it). Those ticket selling concoctions pale into significance when compared to some of the antics Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, probably the two most popular heavyweights of all time, engaged in. As Withnail commented to the ladies of the Penrith Tea Rooms, these stiffs could do with being livened up, it’s like a pissing morgue north of 200 lbs for cripes sake.
Quite whether Haye’s the man to rid us of the oversized gargantuans who rob us of battles filled with speed, guts and stamina and replace them with ones where the overriding theme is weight (which let’s face it, is the pervading issue in most of today’s ‘pound for pound’ attractions too…..axe…grind….axe…grind) is another matter. His antics may just encourage other regular sized heavies to come in fit and athletic rather than fat and pathetic.
Haye simply can’t win a fight against either Klitschko brother fighting in the manner he did Saturday mind you and being the smart guy he is, he’ll know this. I still fancy his chances against Wladimir, who I think he has genuinely rattled, especially if he gets him on home turf at Wembley (please, please, please) though I struggle still to see how he can defeat Vitali.
One thing is for sure, there’s finally reason for optimism in the heavyweight division and the next six months should be highly eventful as Haye’s star continues to grow and we see him in with a traditional sized heavyweight, one he’ll be aiming to knock out rather than outpoint.
He deserves immense credit for his recent accomplishments; former top man at cruiserweight and now a titlist at heavyweight, these are rare occurrences for a British fighter. We may have been spoiled somewhat over recent years with the likes of Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn, Lennox Lewis and Naz Hamed and Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe, yet we should not lose sight of the fact that this level of success is not the norm.
Haye and Carl Froch have taken up the reins superbly from Ricky and Joe (why are there only ever two successful Brits on the go at any one time, what are we Siths?) and although they won’t ever be described as having Frank Bruno like modesty, they are fearless and willing to meet their greatest challenges head on. Bloody amen to that.
