by James Slater – Top trainer Emauel Steward has certainly been round the block and he knows plenty about how fighters use hype and trash talk to sell tickets. A experienced as he is, it takes quite a bit to get Emanuel excited these days – especially when it comes to the heavyweight division.
But, though the Hall of Fame trainer of current IBF and WBO heavyweight boss Wladimir Klitschko feels his man will take care of the brash and somewhat arrogant David Haye when he meets him in June, Steward has gone on record as saying he is very excited right now due to “The Hayemaker.” Emanuel, who spoke to SKY Sports, went as far as to call Haye a genius for the manner in which he has brought back some sparkle to the heavyweight division..
Going even further, Steward also compared the 28-year-old former cruiserweight king to a certain Cassius Clay of the early 1960s – saying that Haye brings to the table the type of excitement the young Muhammad Ali did in 1963.
“David Haye brings an excitement like Cassius Clay in 1963,” Steward said. “I was training then and he was creating excitement just verbally in addition to knocking guys out. This is the first time I have seen anyone do what David Haye is doing. He hasn’t even fought a quality heavyweight – he’s got a KO against Monte Barrett, a guy (Klitschko) knocked out about ten years ago. But he’s a genius to create this excitement, he’s even got me excited.
“I wanted to go to training camp this week and Wladimir said ‘no, wait a couple more weeks.’ So there’s a lot of excitement in this fight.”
Of course, history tells us that the brash, outspoken Cassius Clay won his first assault on the heavyweight championship of the world, and that he more than lived up to his boasting. Going in against the feared Sonny Liston in 1964 as an even bigger underdog that Haye is against “Dr. Steel Hammer,” Clay saw his legend born. Haye claims we will see the birth of a new legend when he KO’s Klitschko in June. Steward, though he thinks Haye is a fine ticket seller, disagrees.
The great trainer also disagrees with Wladimir’s plan to take Haye into the late rounds by way of a long, pay back type beating, and then stopping him in the 12th and final round. Steward wants his man to take Haye out early.
“Wladimir will be fighting a guy who isn’t like who he’s been fighting in the recent past,” Steward said. “Recently, they’ve all been old, veteran guys who’ve been fighting to survive. This is somebody who’s going to come to knock Wladimir out. He’s going to bring energy, excitement and explosiveness we have not seen for some while. And Wladimir is at his best when fighters come to win.
“Wladimir fights very good when he’s attacked. David Haye is going to come at him and be very aggressive and it’s going to be one of those fights that’s not going to go 12 rounds. I want this fight over with quick. I want him to knock out Haye within six rounds because we cannot play safe this time.
“We’ll break him down slowly and then he’ll feel the strength of a full heavyweight.”
It looks like – from what Seward has to say and from what Haye has had to say – we may well be seeing one of the most action-packed bouts of Wladimir Klitschko’s entire career come June 20th. Whoever wins one thing seems sure – the victor WILL win by a KO!