By James Slater: Tonight in Manchester, WBA heavyweight champ David Hayed scored a ridiculously easy 3rd-round TKO over a reluctant (scared?) Audley Harrison – much to the displeasure of the large, money-paying crowd.
Haye opened up, for basically the first time, in the 3rd-round, and decked Harrison with a series of rights hands to the head. “A-Force” beat the count but was soon under more fire and a final right hand that staggered him forced referee Luis Pabon to stop the awful affair. The time was one-minute and 53-seconds.
Haye is now 25-1(23). Harrison, who was a complete no-show tonight and must surely retire, is now 27-5(20).
The 1st-round was, well, a complete nothing session. Neither guy did a thing, and the crowd began booing after only a minute or so. Harrison held both hands high, while Haye looked to open up but never did.
The 2nd wasn’t much better, as Haye feinted a few times and let go with a couple of attacks. Harrison, who promised so much beforehand, did nothing but throw a single jab. Had Harrison frozen? It sure looked like it. Not that Haye was doing much more!
The end came in the 3rd, as Haye finally decided to do something. Opening up with venom, Haye unleashed a good attack. Harrison tried his best to hold on, but he threw absolutely nothing back and was soon bowled over by a series of right hands.
Harrison beat the count, but he took follow-up shots, finally soaking up another right hand to the head, and the third man in the ring dived in. The crowd booed, and justifiably so.
Haye, in the post-fight interview, claimed he had previously put money on himself wining in the 3rd-round, and he sure picked up on his bet. But did the defending WBA heavyweight boss “carry” Harrison for a couple of rounds so as to pocket even more money? It certainly looked as though Haye could have ended the fight as soon as he wanted to, but for whatever reason he waited until the 3rd.
And that, fight fans, is more than enough ink than tonight’s “fight” deserves!
Will Haye now take a real test and actually man up and fight a Klitschko?
For what it’s worth, Adam Booth said that if a “respectable” offer is presented, the fight “will happen next year.”
“Who else are the Klitschko’s going to fight but David,” Booth asked?