by James Slater – Finally. After all the talking he’s done and after a number of possible fights have fallen through for him for one reason or another, David Haye will at last fight for a version of the world heavyweight title this coming Saturday night when he challenges WBA ruler Nikolai Valuev. As such, it’s time for the former world cruiserweight champion to back up at least some of his boasts.
Even before his “re-debut” fight at heavyweight against gatekeeper Monte “Two Gunz” Barrett, Haye had got the fans talking about him perhaps being the next big thing at heavyweight. Blessed with speed, power, athleticism and, perhaps most importantly, an exciting, all guns blazing fighting approach, Haye promised us he’d shake up the division and bring back respect and raw excitement to the heavyweights.
However, as fans know, one year on from the 5th-round TKO he scored over Barrett in London, we are still waiting. Despite talking up a fight with Ring magazine, IBF and WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko to great effect, the fight fell through at the eleventh hour due to the vocal would-be challenger suffering a back injury.. After we’d all got excited and had debated amongst ourselves what would happen in the fight scheduled for June, the intriguing bout was taken away from us.
Even more disappointingly, Haye refused to go ahead with the fight that was subsequently offered to him by the older Klitschko brother and WBC king, Vitali. Claiming to be most unhappy with the contract Team-Vitali wanted him to sign, Haye, without telling anyone, secretly made a deal to fight WBA boss Valuev instead – much to the annoyance of the Klitschkos. Would they ever get the chance to make “The Hayemaker” pay for all the insults he’d hurled their way?
Bang up to date, and having to keep our fingers firmly crossed that we will finally get to see Haye taking on a Klitschko in the future, the brash 29-year-old is just days away from his third heavyweight bout and his first heavyweight title shot. Taking a big gamble in agreeing to fight the 7’2″ giant from Russia, Haye has put all his eggs in one basket. Lose to the 36-year-old behemoth, and Haye can likely say goodbye to any chance of anyone listening to anything he has to say about future fights, as well as say bye-bye to any chance of a fight with Wladimir or Vitali.
If Haye wins on Saturday, though, he will have a real bargaining chip in the form of his WBA belt – a bargaining chip that just might land him a lucrative fight with one of his rival heavyweight rulers. As to whether or not Haye actually wants to step into the ring with either of the two “Doctors,” that’s another question; one that will never even be asked if Haye comes a cropper in Nuremberg in just over six days’ time.
Can Haye achieve something and put his face on the heavyweight map with a win over Valuev? Can he even do so by KO’ing Valuev, as he says he plans to do? The fight, though a poor second to a Klitschko-Haye fight, has attracted plenty of attention, and finally it’s time to see if Haye is as good a big man as he claims to be.
Unfortunately, despite the hype the Nov. 7th fight has had, the action could well turn out to be not all that thrilling to watch. If Valuev, who has been in dull fights before, adopts lots of holding and leaning tactics in an effort to drain the much smaller man of energy, and if Haye cannot do anything about it, we could get a boring distance fight that is won by the champion. To my mind, a quick KO, one way or the other, is a long shot. I think Valuev will be made to look slow and somewhat foolish for the first four or five rounds, as Haye bounces punches off his head and also attacks his midsection to good effect. But, and here’s the big question: will Haye be able to keep it up or will he run out of gas?
Valuev, as we know, can go 12-rounds almost in his sleep. But will Haye, a fighter who has fallen victim to fatigue in the past, be able to last the full 12? Punching down, Valuev will not have to expend as much energy as Haye. Haye will also use up a ton of energy if he’s to keep on his toes and not let up with his in and out approach. Sooner or later, the thinking seems to be, Valuev will land a hard shot on his challenger’s chin. It might not be a fast shot, but landing on a tiring fighter, it could be enough to put Haye down, maybe even out.
My prediction, for what it’s worth, is that Valuev will either get that late-round stoppage, or he will hold, frustrate and manhandle Haye enough to win on points. It’s now up to Haye to prove such thinking to be wrong. Finally!