The heavyweight division. History has always held this at the
pinnacle of boxing excellence, whether the best fighters in the
game were plying their trade as heavyweights or not, holding a
piece of this title is always something special. As a boxing fan,
it is always interesting to note how far the pendulum has swung
since Mike Tyson's career ebbed away and Lennox Lewis hung up his
gloves. No longer are the biggest fights fought by the biggest men.
The general public have of late has been captivated by dynamos that
tear through weight categories and reign in mythical
pound-for-pound debates.
It has often been said that the heavyweight division is in
the doldrums, that the Klitschko brothers are the best of a bad
bunch, and the division needs to be rejuvenated or reinvented if it
is to survive. Cue March 8, 2008 and David Haye dispatches fellow
cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli in two rounds to unify
three of the major belts at the 200-pound limit. After the fight he
issues a statement of intent, a run at the heavyweight division
that he claimed he could unify and rule with an iron fist. And then
it went quiet.
Rather than rush into bulking up and risk losing his best
asset — his speed — Haye went deep into training,
surfacing in November 2008 to crush Monte Barrett in five rounds.
And then it went quiet; again. Conspiracy theories abound as to why
fights with the Klitschko brothers didn't come off over the summer.
The bottom line is, they didn't. A fight with Nikolai Valuev seemed
to come from nowhere, yet it would fit in far better with Haye's
rhetoric.
Haye wasn't shy in declaring his discontent about the shape
of the division, or more accurately — the shape of the
heavyweights themselves. Fights with the Klitschkos didn't really
make sense six months ago. Valid arguments could be made that,
cruiserweight domination aside, Haye hadn't done enough to deserve
a shot at the two best fighters in class. Valuev is a different
proposition altogether. He doesn't come in shredded like the
Klitschko brothers. He is too big and cumbersome to be athletic,
and he represents everything that Haye believes is wrong with the
division.
It also helped that he has had his share of debatable
decisions in the past; including Evander Holyfield's crack at
heavyweight glory at age 46. Nothing needs to be put here about the
build up to the fight. Haye talked a good game and made some
interesting predictions. How much was self promotion and how much
he actually believed we'll never know. What we did know was the
size of the task in front of him. All 316 pounds of it.
Coming into the ring, Haye looked anything but the brash
upstart who promised a spectacular knockout, and perhaps it was the
sense of occasion or the realization of his life's dream, but he
sure looked nervous to me. As the bell sounded both men made their
way to the center of the ring. Valuev by sheer size closed the gap
very quickly. A double jab from the champion allowed him to get the
measure of Haye, who stayed quick on his feet and threw the
occasional jab into Valuev's midriff. Haye has promised all out
attack, but gave a cautious, measured performance in the early
rounds.
When opportunities presented themselves he sent stinging
straight lefts and right hooks though Valuev's guard and managed to
land a few good shots to the Russian's temple, all of which had
little to no effect.
Valuev never pretended to reinvent the wheel with his tactics
in this fight. He played to his strengths by utilizing his
underrated jab and cut off the ring all whilst trying to expend as
little energy as possible.
In the fourth round Valuev closed the distance and trapped
Haye in the corner; it was to Haye's credit that he didn't let
Valuev test his chin. The challenger ducked way down and leaned as
far over as possible on occasion to ensure he stayed out of harm's
way.
Yet Haye never appeared to be as quick as he thinks and says
he is, he ate his fair share of jabs as the rounds wore on and by
the midrounds, the end swell became a common fixture in the British
corner. To say Haye isn't quick is unfair, he is. And when Valuev
throws a punch there is a lot of leather to get out the way of
— he just never seemed stellar.
Valuev's stamina has never been in question, he has gone the
distance almost as often as he has gone home early. The general
feeling prefight was that Haye could well be in trouble come the
championship rounds, having been 12 rounds just once before. He
would need to manage his output carefully to ensure he wouldn't run
out of gas.
At the start of the eighth round both men engaged briefly and
against the flow of the tempo that had been set up to that point.
Haye was able to land a quick fire double, then turned Valuev on
the ropes and went to work again. It just seemed to be too little
too seldom. Very rarely has Haye had to go on the back foot in his
career. During this fight he spent the majority of his time going
backward and pot shotting Valuev when little openings presented
themselves. Valuev meanwhile constantly stalked his man and looked
to engage Haye at any opportunity.
Haye never showed signs that he was tiring while on his feet.
Though breathing deeply when he sat in his corner, his energy level
never dipped throughout the fight. Going into the champion's
backyard and taking a decision almost always requires domination or
at the very least enough effective aggression to steal rounds. Haye
showed neither and would likely lament leaving anything in the tank
should he not get the nod.
In fact as the fight entered the championship rounds it was
Valuev who looked to excel as he upped the pace and hunted Haye
with renewed vigor. A straight right landed flush for the champion
in the 11th as he closed the distance and started to load up his
punches. A nice flurry at the end of the round for Valuev
culminated with a left hook, he looked to be gaining momentum in
time for the final stanza.
Both men came forward for the last time hoping to take the
decision out of the judges' hands. Valuev had the first attempt
with a wild hook, his most vicious of the evening. It sailed just
wide of the mark. Then Haye struck gold when first a right hand
caught the champion flush on the chin, and then a one two
combination landed flush and a follow up hook seemed to have Valuev
in trouble for the first time in his career.
Sensing weakness like a predatory animal, Haye immediately
jumped on his man, only to have the referee separate them both for
overzealous punching behind the head. Haye again closed in and
engaged, only this time Valuev had regained his composure and went
back to his solid fundamentals. Haye circled round in the closing
seconds, seemingly happy to run out the clock; it was a recurring
theme of the evening. Haye looked to do just enough work to steal a
round, then stay out of trouble.
If history tells us anything, it is that to get a decision
away from home, especially in Germany, Haye needed to do more than
get on his bike and wait for Valuev to make mistakes, he needed to
create his own opportunities, which he only managed once —
in the last round.
In the end his confidence in the judges wasn't misplaced, as
scores of 114-114, 116-112 and 116-112 gave Haye the championship
by majority decision. Without doubt it is a historic win; he
follows in the footsteps of Evander Holyfield who stepped up from
cruiserweight to become a heavyweight champion. It is also a great
win for British boxing, becoming the first Briton to claim a piece
of the heavyweight title since Lennox Lewis.
Question marks will be raised about his method of victory
this time out. Valuev certainly didn't look like a beaten man,
ironically he had won some dubious decisions off the back of bad
performances in Germany. This time out and with one of his better
performances, he has been on the wrong end of a very close and
debatable call.
For what it is worth, I had Valuev one up on my card. I
didn't think Haye did enough to dethrone the champion in his
backyard. Scoring Haye four up implies that he won some rounds by
landing just two or three scoring shots. Certainly not enough of a
workrate in my eyes to get the nod over Valuev who had been
relentless in his pursuit of Haye and was certainly the most
aggressive man for large stretches of the fight. Perhaps a draw
would have been the fairest outcome.
With the win Haye has realized a dream and takes a step
closer to unifying the division he set out to conquer. He will need
to be far better than he was Saturday to make the next step. The
Klitschkos are faster, more mobile and have a better defense than
Valuev. Both have fearsome knockout percentages and neither allow
mistakes to go unpunished. In truth it is the only logical move for
Haye to make, the only choice that has to be made is which one
first. Older brother Vitali has a defense against Kevin Johnson
scheduled for mid-December. Wladimir meanwhile is currently on the
injured list and isn't slated to make a defense soon.
Even as a newly crowned heavyweight champ, questions are
still being raised about Haye. Whilst he may have answered some
tonight, many more have now been asked of him. Most pertinently; is
he ready for either of the top dogs in the division? But the
question that should be on most people's lips is when will either
Klitschko versus Haye be made? Only by fighting these two men will
the questions truly be answered. Until then, Haye remains somewhat
of an enigma.
