By James Slater: The weigh-in has taken place, just moments ago, for the heavily-hyped WBA heavyweight title clash between “Best Of Enemies,” David Haye and Audley Harrison.
The weigh-in, which was open to the public, was expected to attract a big crowd, and it did. Also expected was challenger Harrison to weigh-in at a considerably heavier poundage than former cruiserweight king Haye. However, some fans may raise an eyebrow when they read just how much heavier “A-Force” was compared to “The Hayemaker.”
The reigning and defending WBA heavyweight titlist, looking sleek, toned and in great overall condition, tipped-in at 210 and-one-half-pounds. Harrison, the older man by nine years at age 39, scaled 253 and-one-half-pounds. The 2000 Olympian also looked in fantastic shape.
Amidst cries of “Yes I can,” from Harrison, and “No You can’t” from Haye, the two weighed-in and then spoke to the media – Sky Sports TV cameras in particular.
“It’s not about who is the biggest fighter,” Haye said. “I proved that when I beat Nikolai Valuev in Germany. I’m used to being the smaller fighter in the ring. I’m gonna get close to Audley and force him to fight every second of every round.”
“I’m gonna utilise my weight advantage,” Harrison countered. “In a long hard fight, going up in weight, down in weight, as he has done – that will work against him, He’s gonna be in the fight of his life. I’ve got into David Haye’s mind. He’s so sacred of losing to me, so he’s trained and trained and trained. I knew he’d come in light. This will work to my advantage.”
So, neither guy appears to be at all surprised at what their opponent weighed-in at today. As Haye says though, it’s not about being the bigger fighter – even though that old adage “A good big ’un beats a good little ’un” – is exactly what Harrison has been saying and seems to be counting on.
But of course, Haye has dealt with giants before, most notably “The Russian Giant” he mentioned.
For the record, today’s weight is the lightest one Haye has scaled since fighting as a heavyweight. For Harrison, 253, or thereabouts, is a weight he has come in at many times. Both men have clearly done their work in the gym. Now, with all the hype and build-up over; will the two rivals give us a fight worth all the fuss?