By Dan Hunter – This week we had the embarrassing spectacle of watching David Haye desperately trying to impress us, and I imagine, intimidate Nicolay Valuev, by, errm, wait for it; knocking the head off of a life-size cardboard cutout of the said 7´2´´ WBA heavyweight champion. That followed further unwanted revelations about Valuev´s personal hygiene, further comments about how Valuev is ´´the ugliest man he has ever scene“ and so on and so forth.
What was the stunt with the cardboard meant to achieve? Scare the living daylights out of Nicolay Valuev? Unlikely. Prove to everyone how dangerous and nasty David Haye is? Unlikely..
Actually, the only thing it did prove is how slight and small Haye looks in comparison with even a cardboard cutout of the ´´Beast from the East.“
Apparently these stunts are intended to ´´wind Valuev up.“
And to think I once considered David Haye to be that rarest of creatures; a boxing intellectual.
Wind Valuev up? What for? Is Haye a complete idiot?
Nicolay Valuev stands 7´2´´ tall. He weighs 320 lbs. That’s just under 23 stone. So far he has built a professional record of 50 wins (34 ko´s) against one split decision defeat, against the talented but troubled Ruslan Chagaev.
So far, despite his enormous size, he has never killed anyone in the ring. He has never beaten an opponent into a coma.
Why is that, do you wonder? Is it because despite his great size, Nicolay is at heart a peaceful, gentle giant, someone who sees boxing as a sport and not as a game of life and death? Maybe. You may well argue it is because Valuev doesn’t punch his weight.
Well thank God he doesn’t!
Because if he did, I don’t think the human skull could withstand the impact.
Doesn’t David Haye think he has enough of a task on his hands just trying to beat Valuev?
Lets face it, we all know Haye´s battle-plan, and it ain’t rocket science. Like a man with a bag of money who walks into a Vegas casino and puts the lot on the spin of a roulette wheel, Hay is hoping to land a kayo punch on Valuev´s jaw.
Oh, and by the way, in Valuev we have a fighter who has never even been staggered, never mind floored in his 16 year career.
But, of course, David Haye, with just two bouts as a heavyweight under his belt, is the man to do it.
Does Haye even have a plan B? If the roulette wheel lets him down and the knockout doesn’t materialize, surely he cant just think he can run away from Valuev all night and expect to pick up points, can he?
At some point he is going to have to get involved in some exchanges. And that is when we the truth will reveal itself. If Haye´s chin can stand up to the best Valuev has to offer, then and only then might we actually have a fight on our hands.
But how can a chin that let him down against Monte Barrett (rocked several times) Jean-Marc Mormec (down in the fourth) and Carl Thompson (kayoed by in 5) stand up to any blow from an enraged Valuev?
(And come fight night he may well be homicidal!)
By the way, Valuev is a converted southpaw. He is left handed. So even his jab is going to hurt.
I used to be a big fan of David Haye. I thought he was great for boxing in general, and fantastic for the heavyweight division in particular.
Not anymore.
The stunt he pulled with the Klitchko´s and the T-shirt with the severed heads was crass and stupid, and he followed that by pulling out of his world title fight the week before with a ´´bad back“.
Classy.
His behavior leading up to this fight has been a real turn-off. And frankly, he is acting like a man who is scared to death.
I wonder what odds bet365 will give me on Haye developing lumbago in early November.