David Haye Topples Nikolai Valuev
What Does the Future Hold for Britain’s New Heavyweight Champion
Nov 10, 2009
With all his talk of becoming the first man to ever make the giant Nikolai Valuev taste the canvas, David Haye instead displayed hitherto unseen tactical nous at the Nuremburg Arena on Saturday night. Adopting ‘hit and run’ tactics similar to those used by Evander Holyfield in his controversial loss in December 2008, the younger, quicker Haye stayed clear of Valuev’s massive 84 inch reach, moving in to unload short, accurate flurries and moving straight back out again. Only in the final round did the ‘Hayemaker’ materialise, landing a trademark left hook which momentarily staggered his impressively solid foe, only for the Russian to regain his composure, ending all hopes of a grandstand finish.
Haye Wins by Majority Decision
So the fight went to the judges’ cards and, with Germany having an unwanted, but not unwarranted reputation of giving controversial ‘hometown’ decisions these were nervous times for the Bermondsey man. Conventional wisdom before the fight had held that Haye’s only chance of winning was to knock Valuev out, and that if the fight went the distance the Russian would be the victor. In the end the judges ruled in favour of Haye’s defensive masterclass awarding him the title by majority decision, with two judges scoring the fight 116-112 and the third scoring it as a draw. Haye’s achievement should not be underestimated, even if many observers consider Nikolai Valuev an ordinary fighter made extraordinary only by his sheer size, no fighter in history has ever won a title when conceding such a height and weight disadvantage to his opponent.
David Haye Against The Klitschko Brothers
Far more interesting than reliving the fight itself, which was not a classic and has been amply covered elsewhere, is to consider for a moment what the future now holds for Britain’s first heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis retired in 2004. Haye has made no secret of his desire to fight both of the Klitschko brothers and clean-up the heavyweight division before he retires. Indeed, during the summer he was two weeks away from a fight with the younger Wladimir (WBO and IBF champion) before pulling out of the contest with an injured back, Haye was later close to signing to fight Vitali (WBC champion) who instead fought and beat Chris Arreola. The Klitschko’s were claiming before this fight that Haye had had his chance to fight both of them and he blew it, his promotional antics, which included sporting a t-shirt depicting him holding the severed heads of both brothers have also left a sour taste.
The truth is, however, that apart from Haye the heavyweight division is devoid of any real challenges for the Ukranian brothers. Vitali has comfortably beaten Samuel Peter and Chris Arreola since returning from a two-year layoff, whilst Wladimir out-classed former WBA holder Ruslan Chagaev in his last outing, who had been due to face Nikolai Valuev but ironically stepped in as a late replacement for the crocked David Haye. Boxers have very short careers and it is in the interests of all fighters to maximise their earnings potential while they can. Sky TV has reportedly sold up to 800,000 pay-per-views in the UK which proves that David Haye is a marquee name and, as the Klitschko brothers struggle to find viable opponents, these are figures that they can ill-afford to ignore.
Mandatory Defence Against John ‘the Quiet Man’ Ruiz
Whilst it appears that the Klitschko’s need David Haye almost as much as he needs them, the Londoner’s immediate boxing future is already mapped out. Former WBA champion John Ruiz is the current mandatory challenger and Haye must face him in his first defence. Ruiz had been due to face Valuev in what would have doubtless been an encounter as turgid as the first two, but instead accepted an undisclosed fee to step-aside and let Valuev face Haye instead. The bout should go ahead by May 2010, and London’s O2 Arena would be the ideal venue for a Haye homecoming. Ruiz is a small heavyweight, similar in size to Haye and shouldn’t pose too much of a threat to him, especially given that he usually struggles with faster fighters, as his defeat to Roy Jones Jr. proved.
David Haye’s Future Opponents
Once he has fulfilled his mandatory defence and providing the Klitschko’s don’t come calling straightaway, who should David Haye choose for the first voluntary defence of his WBA title? Haye needs to at least pick a genuine contender, although that at least should be a given for a man who has always appeared eager to challenge himself, facing the wily veteran Carl Thompson in just his 10th pro fight and suffering the only loss of his career so far. He will probably avoid any of the fighters that the Klitschko’s have recently dispatched, for they are scarcely household names and will not challenge him enough and instead opt for a well-known opponent.
James Toney is a possibility, the American has won titles all the way from middleweight up to heavyweight and, providing he retains the renewed enthusiasm for staying in shape that he demonstrated, would provide credible, yet beatable opposition. Haye could also choose to test himself against an up-and-coming name, the Cuban Odlanier Solis recently decked Monte Barrett inside two rounds, a man who Haye himself beat comfortably in his only previous bout at heavyweight.
Aside from these two men, surely an intriguing opponent would be the only other former cruiserweight champion to claim the world heavyweight crown: Evander Holyfield.
