By Michael Montero – Part of the fun (and sometimes annoyance) in the world of boxing is the fickle and “fair weather” mentality of the sport’s fans and press. Fighter A wins and he’s the next big thing; Fighter A loses and he’s a hype job. Citizens of Fighter A’s homeland overrate him; people from other countries underestimate him. And on it goes. So it should come as no surprise that the hottest name in the boxing world right now (especially in England) is David Haye. But is this current “Haye hysteria” reasonable, or are there a lot of folks out there setting themselves up for heartache in the near future?
Now I certainly don’t want to take anything away from Haye’s accomplishment; he ridded us of Valuev (thank God) and added his name to a very short list of men to win titles at cruiserweight as well as heavyweight. He set himself up for possible boxing immortality, should he wind up facing (and beating) the Klitschko brothers. The man deserves much kudos. But last Saturday’s “fight” was hardly memorable; and it left us with several unanswered questions regarding The Haymaker.
The stats show Valuev threw 390 punches and landed 64 (16%), while the new WBA titlist connected on 98 of 143 (68%). Yes Haye made the giant miss over and over, yes he was extremely accurate, but the man threw less than 12 punches a round. Would that sort of output keep either Klitschko at bay? Could he keep up a much higher work rate for the full twelve rounds if need be? Did he do any better against The Russian Giant than guys like Larry Donald and John Ruiz? Compare the numbers from the first Valuev-Ruiz bout and it causes one wonder. Ruiz connected on 128 of 194 power punches to Valuev’s 43 of 184, while out landing Valuev 195 to 157 overall.
Haye had his opponent badly wobbled halfway through the final round, yet danced the rest of the way and left his boxing future in the seemingly uncertain hands of the judges – why? Keep in mind this is the same guy who criticized the “boring” Klitschko brothers for their “jab fests” and safety first approach. This is the man that promised to “bring excitement back” to the heavyweight division. Yet he let the stunned giant off the hook at the end of a close match that many felt could have gone either way.
There are always extenuating circumstances. Haye hurt his hand early in the fight so perhaps that’s why he didn’t go for the kill in the twelfth and/or throw more punches throughout. We’ll never know for sure, only he does. And that’s my point. We still don’t know who David Haye is. There’s no doubting that he’s currently a major player in the heavyweight division, but the jury is still out regarding how he’ll fair against the elite. This writer believes his upcoming mandatory defense against John “The Quietman” Ruiz will give us all a better idea. Until then, let’s calm down and hold off on the comparisons to Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis folks. We’ve got a long way to go before that’s justified.
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