by Geoffrey Ciani – After beating Nicolai Valuev in a rather lackluster affair, David Haye became the newly crowned WBA heavyweight champion. Haye beat Valuev by majority decision. The fight itself was dull. Haye was able to stay outside the lumbering giant’s punching range while scoring occasional shots to both head and body consistently enough to win favor with two of the three judges. Although the bout lacked excitement, David Haye fought a very smart fight and one could hardly blame him for looking ‘dull’ against such an awkward opponent whose freakish height and size present a monumental obstacle. Haye stuck to his fight plan and exhibited good movement and nice defense. The art of hitting without being hit was certainly on display throughout much of the contest.
Now Haye is talking about cleaning up the division. Naturally, in order to do that, he would need to get through the brothers Klitschko, but before that happens, he must deal with mandatory challenger John Ruiz. The fight with Ruiz is one that will probably not provoke much interest.. A fight with one of the Klitschkos would surely be much bigger, but would it provide for a competitive matchup? This seems highly unlikely. If Haye was having problems finding Valuev’s chin, how is he going to get at Wladimir who is much more difficult to hit?
Since being under the tutelage of Emanuel Steward, Wladimir has become an outstanding defensive technician who is hard to hit flush. He also has tremendous survival instincts. He knows when and how to tie opponents up and use his size to his advantage. In order for Haye to get inside on Wladimir, he is going to have to receive a lot more incoming fire than he did against Valuev. Unlike Valuev, whose punches are painfully slow, Wladimir has great hand speed. In fact, he is deceptively fast and knows how to keep opponents at the end of his telephone pole jab. The jab is the key to everything. It sets up his powerful right hand and also creates openings for a snappy left hook. Many critics point to Wladimir’s chin as evidence that Haye would have a good chance, but the reality is, Klitschko presents too many problems for Haye. A fight between Haye and Klitschko would probably not be competitive and would most likely end in an early stoppage victory for Klitschko.
For Haye, fights against Ruiz or either Klitschko probably will not produce the type of crowd-pleasing epic that fans marvel about. A fight with Tomasz Adamek, however, can do just that!
Tomasz Adamek is one of the most exciting fighters in boxing. Like Haye before him, Adamek proved he was the best boxer in the cruiserweight division before making the jump to heavyweight. Adamek’s impressive fifth round stoppage against former contender Andrew Golota was reminiscent of Haye’s fifth round stoppage over former contender Monte Barrett. Adamek and Haye are both small fighters by today’s heavyweight standard. They are both known for tremendous knockout power and revered for their styles and intensity. A fight between the two is sure to bring fireworks. On paper, the two seem to be pretty evenly matched with Haye having an advantage in speed and strength and Adamek having the edge in stamina and durability.
Unfortunately, a fight between Adamek and Haye is something that will probably not happen any time soon. Before Haye does anything, it looks as if he will need to defend against John Ruiz next. After that, assuming he wins, logic suggests he will probably gun for one of the Klitschko brothers. Meanwhile, Adamek is expected to continue his progression into the heavyweight rankings. Fans would be given a real treat if the paths of Adamek and Haye were to cross. If Haye beats Ruiz and Adamek wins his next fight, perhaps there is a chance this can come to fruition. A fight between former cruiserweight champions doing battle for a portion of the heavyweight title is its own selling point and would undoubtedly provide excitement. In fact, dare I say, there is not a better, more exciting fight out there in the heavyweight division.
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