So the biggest boxing story this side of the Atlantic is that former 2-weight "World Champion" David Haye (I have always refused to accept his illegitimate WBA Heavyweight title reign) will be facing former world title challenger Dereck Chisora on a card licensed by the Federation Luxembourgeoise De Boxe. The card, dubbed "License to Thrill" may well excite some of the casual fans who two well known names, though sadly, from my point of view it's a disgusting cash grab by 3 men who have shame this sport numerous times over the years.
Firstly you have the public face of the bout and Chisora's "manager" Frank Warren. Warren has been described as a human fish and has seen many professional relationships fall apart including relationships with former IBF Light Welterweight champion Terry Marsh (who was tried for an assassination attempt on Mr Warren) and former 2-weight world champions Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe. In fact in recent months alone we've seen former Olympic Gold Medal winner James DeGale and current Light Heavyweight contender Tony Bellew having soured relations with Mr Warren.
Whilst Warren won't technically be the promoter of the bout he appears to be the man at the fore front of the bout. He's the man who owns a major stake in the TV channel that will be showing the bout (Box Nation) and he's also the man who appears to be doing the promotional work for the bout, including the announcement and the press conference for the bout earlier this week.
In recent months there have been a lot of rumours about Warren being unable to pay fighters (or at very least unable to pay in a reasonable time frame) and he has in the past declared a company bankrupt when Joe Calzaghe sued him. Yet he has managed to maintain a BBBofC (British Boxing Board of Control) license much to the disgust of many in the sport.
Second you have Dereck "Del Boy" Chisora, a fighter who courts controversy like no other in Britain. Chisora has bitten opponents (Paul Butlin), kissed opponents at a weigh in (Carl Baker), slapped an opponent at a weigh in (Vitali Klitschko), spat an opponents second (Wladimir Klitschko) and came in hugely over-weight for one of the biggest fights of his career (against Tyson Fury). Chisora has also been found guilty of crimes and is a man who really needs to be "taught" a lesson by serving a lengthy ban, not by effectively being out of the ring for 6 months, the general time a fighter at this level is out of the ring.
Thirdly you have David Haye a man who bored the pants off fans by throwing only a handful of punches over 12 rounds against Nikolai Valuev then followed that performance up with 2 rounds of nothing against Audley Harrison who was visibly crapping his pants and then again bored us senseless with his bout against Wladimir Klitschko before complaining about a sore toe.
As well as Haye's embarrassing "sore toe" he's also embarrassed himself with his mouth, claiming he was "the saviour of the heavyweight division" (amongst others), with his shirts (the infamous one of him holding the Klitschko brothers severed heads) and of course his actions which included throwing a tripod at Chisora earlier this year.
Sadly whilst the media may be going crazy over this bout it's nothing more than a farce that may end up making boxing a bigger joke than it already is. The introduction of the Federation Luxembourgeoise De Boxe into Britain could well lead to a second "British title" which means we could end up effectively having a very messy British title scene (much like the current world title scene with the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF titles). If we end up with multiple British titles and a split in professional British boxing, on your head be it Mr Warren, Mr Chisora and Mr Haye, it's an obvious cash grab by the 3 of you and you should all be ashamed.
Showing posts with label David Haye. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Haye. Show all posts
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Audley Harrison-Twitter Warrior!
A recent newspaper reported Audley Harrison claiming he would “prove doubters wrong”, and now, the 39 year old Harrison, seems to be on the warpath. Yes this is the same A-Farce we all love to hate, the problem is that his war path isn't on the heavyweight division but instead on the world of Twitter where Audley, presumably feeling safe is happy to swing his shots. He seems to throw more verbal jabs over the site than he did at David Haye.
The ever confident Gold Medal winner has come out with some of those lines you know only he could ever come out with. When asked whether or not he still believes he'll be a world champion he replied with “Long way, but a few good wins and I'm back in the huntRT”. A possible early contender for under-statement of the year. “:Long way”? I'm nearer having a threesome with Kelly Brook and Briana Frost than Audley is from ever winning a world title. A “few good wins”? Has Audley ever actually had what we'd consider a good win? His best victories are against British standard heavyweights in Williams and Sprott, both of whom have already beaten him anyway. Although a lot of people want to downplay the Klitschko's they spar with Sprott and Vitali famously beat Williams senseless well before Audley faced him. If the A-Farce wants a good win what about guys like Povetkin? Arreola? Chagaev? The talk is that he will face a British fighter, in fact he's called out Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora, more British level fighters.
The ever confident Gold Medal winner has come out with some of those lines you know only he could ever come out with. When asked whether or not he still believes he'll be a world champion he replied with “Long way, but a few good wins and I'm back in the huntRT”. A possible early contender for under-statement of the year. “:Long way”? I'm nearer having a threesome with Kelly Brook and Briana Frost than Audley is from ever winning a world title. A “few good wins”? Has Audley ever actually had what we'd consider a good win? His best victories are against British standard heavyweights in Williams and Sprott, both of whom have already beaten him anyway. Although a lot of people want to downplay the Klitschko's they spar with Sprott and Vitali famously beat Williams senseless well before Audley faced him. If the A-Farce wants a good win what about guys like Povetkin? Arreola? Chagaev? The talk is that he will face a British fighter, in fact he's called out Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora, more British level fighters.
The Olympic Gold Medal winner has also recently come out with this. “Listen, all the big talking wanabee bad boys on here, don't watch me. I'm all good. My life is gravy, no complaints. Can you say the same ?” He doesn't seem to have any idea most fight fans watch him to see him layed out on the canvas all over again and hopefully retire. We thought Danny Williams would have embarrassed him into retirement, then we were sure Michael Sprott had done the job, then hoped Martin Rogan had managed it. We've realised he's not going away until someone literally gives him brain damage, sadly I'm not to sure he'd realise it. In a fair honest retort:
“Listen, you big talking boxing wannabee bad boy, don't call yourself a fighter when your not willing to fight. My life is pretty good, can't complain and I'm sure many others can say the same”.
When a “fan” asked “For your fans, why should we still follow you?” Audley retorted with “If your a fan, I don't need to answer that” almost expecting the blind followers to keep following him. It was as if the blind man expects people to be as stupid as he himself seems. Is it impossible for poor Audley to realise weren't all delusional fools? He's giving people no reason, in or out of the ring, to remain fans. He needs to grow up, this is a man who's been a pro for 10 years but has done nothing of note.
A protective fan was kind enough to offer this “Have you got keyboard gangsters on your case?? Bless the clueless bastards.” Sadly the “clueless bastards” are the those following the A-Farce despite the let down, the talk and the repeated failure. Though as Audley said “A wise man once said ' if they are writing about you, they are thinking about you, if they are thinking about you, they are dreaming about you' can u imagine :)” can you imagine some of the things I must be dreaming about? A nude Marco Antonio Periban for a start (actually...). Shame I find it hard to dream and write things because, believe it or not, I get paid! Well done Audley, I'll mis-quote a very wise man myself “I write, therefore I am” (long live Descartes).
Sorry for the language with this one but....well it's Audley's fault “When my day comes to shit, I mean quit :) I promise to let u know”. Shame he's been shit for the past decade and he's certainly let us know about it, repeatedly. If he quit I'd rather he just faded off into obscurity rather than announced it to the world. He's resorted to throwing personal insults “I'm joking butt head” though this is nothing of a surprise, he needs to throw something, sure as hell didn't throw anything at David Haye in November.
Before leaving Audley alone (I didn't want to catch whatever mental problem he has) I saw this gem. “Fact: I don't give a flying f..k what people say. Fact: I fought Michael Sprout for 8 rounds with one ARM, do you not think I would have found a way to come back: fact: I should of got asking out on a stretcher, its for the world title”. Now I understand the start of that. Yes yes he fought a 35 year old journeyman who had gone 2-4 in his last 6 one handed, well we say fought he didn't really fight but that's a technicality. Though the second part I have no idea about, is he saying he should have had to go out on a stretcher against Haye? If so it's probably a shame the referee did save his life.
Anyway thank you Mr Harrison. Been nice to vent after Man United's garbage first half, not quite as bad as your beloved Arsenals though I guess. Stay on Twitter, your more active on there than you ever were in the ring.
Monday, 3 January 2011
Not a blog but an interview...kinda
As a boxing writer an exclusive is pretty much the thing we hunt down, no matter how big or small. On a very drunk night I managed to, via the brilliance of the internet, secure myself one with a local fighter, Cumbrian based Heavyweight/Cruiserweight Lee Kellett. Lee's record of 4-5-1 (3) may not be impressive, though his honesty and openness is something that has to be valued.
Having done the interview after a very heavy drinking session in late December I first need to thank Lee for deciphering my drunken ramblings and secondly I need to thank you, the readers who are still there sat here reading this.
Firstly we started off with a few general questions, just something to get started on. Knowing Lee somewhat I've gathered that he has problems with the BBBofC, he was happy enough to indulge my curiosity over those problems. His views were that they didn't give everyone a fair shot, and went on to say they didn't know enough about the actual sport. Having followed the sport for a while it seems fairly obvious that the BBBofC (British Boxing Board of Control) are behind the times, they are slowly catching up to the rest of the world, though sadly it's too slow and Lee's view that they “Couldn't do a round of toast” seems rather apt, it'd just be burnt bread by the time they realised what they were doing.
When asked what the biggest problem of his career was again Lee was frank and honest, admitting he was an “underachiever”, though sadly the reasons for this is where he lives. Cumbria lacks the sort of options a fighter needs, local gyms don't have the facilities and with so few pros in the local area he's had to do most things solo openly admitting that “training alone is not a good way to do it”. Though even despite the limitations in regards to where he lives he recalls his first win (a 44 second KO over Gary Neville of Irvine, Scotland) as his favourite fight. A fight that was mentioned in one of the local papers in Paisley, giving Lee some acknowledgement north of the border. Sadly that same acknowledgement hasn't been found locally. The local press basically ignoring him, openly stating a rather obvious and blatantly annoying fact about the North West Evening Mail. “The media are shit, I box get nothing or few lines yet if you fly birds or are an OAP doing bowls (no disrespect) you get a full page spread”. It seems quite blatant that if you ask the local population who Lee was they'd sadly not know, yet ask them about the local Darts, Bowls, Pool or Cricket and you'd fancy them to have some clue. This comes as an annoyance, though is sadly proof that the local media (run by Cumbrian News) aren't that interested in helping a local guy go about making a name for themselves. It's said that any new is good news, and some publicity could help Cumbria unearth some real boxing talent, sadly one of the few professionals in the county is being totally ignored.
When asked about who did help, Lee mentioned one name of someone who stood out for him, Stan Dewhurst. Stan let Lee train at his gym in Barrow. The Flexappeal Gym was where Stan, a former Mr Universe made his name as one of the worlds premier body builders, was one of the few people who helped out and yet had others offered a helping hand Lee would almost certainly have had a better record than he currently does. Lacking the clout of a fighter promoted by someone like Frank Warren or Frank Maloney means that Lee hasn't had the best of luck in match making. With questionable stoppage losses to John Anthony and Joe Smyth being probably the two stand outs. However Lee the humility you may not expect of a boxer, admitting “Smyth I may not of beat but I'd of made it a fight if not weight drained, I had nothing in me.” Also admitting, and being very complimentary of Matty Askin, saying “he'll be British champ maybe Euro then who knows”.
The interview ended with a few more general questions:
Mayweather or Pacquiao?-”Mayweather, he just has everything, I can only sum it up as a gifted one above everyone else”
Haye or a Klitschko?-”If Haye lands its over but Klitschko will box his ears off”
View on Carl Froch?-”Froch has everything he just doesn't show how good of a boxer he is as he always has wars but the guy with the right head on can do it all.”
Fights you'd like to see in 2011?-”Froch against the other champions in his division or Amir Khan v the champions at 140.”
Again I'd like to say thanks to Lee for answer the questions asked.
Having done the interview after a very heavy drinking session in late December I first need to thank Lee for deciphering my drunken ramblings and secondly I need to thank you, the readers who are still there sat here reading this.
Firstly we started off with a few general questions, just something to get started on. Knowing Lee somewhat I've gathered that he has problems with the BBBofC, he was happy enough to indulge my curiosity over those problems. His views were that they didn't give everyone a fair shot, and went on to say they didn't know enough about the actual sport. Having followed the sport for a while it seems fairly obvious that the BBBofC (British Boxing Board of Control) are behind the times, they are slowly catching up to the rest of the world, though sadly it's too slow and Lee's view that they “Couldn't do a round of toast” seems rather apt, it'd just be burnt bread by the time they realised what they were doing.
When asked what the biggest problem of his career was again Lee was frank and honest, admitting he was an “underachiever”, though sadly the reasons for this is where he lives. Cumbria lacks the sort of options a fighter needs, local gyms don't have the facilities and with so few pros in the local area he's had to do most things solo openly admitting that “training alone is not a good way to do it”. Though even despite the limitations in regards to where he lives he recalls his first win (a 44 second KO over Gary Neville of Irvine, Scotland) as his favourite fight. A fight that was mentioned in one of the local papers in Paisley, giving Lee some acknowledgement north of the border. Sadly that same acknowledgement hasn't been found locally. The local press basically ignoring him, openly stating a rather obvious and blatantly annoying fact about the North West Evening Mail. “The media are shit, I box get nothing or few lines yet if you fly birds or are an OAP doing bowls (no disrespect) you get a full page spread”. It seems quite blatant that if you ask the local population who Lee was they'd sadly not know, yet ask them about the local Darts, Bowls, Pool or Cricket and you'd fancy them to have some clue. This comes as an annoyance, though is sadly proof that the local media (run by Cumbrian News) aren't that interested in helping a local guy go about making a name for themselves. It's said that any new is good news, and some publicity could help Cumbria unearth some real boxing talent, sadly one of the few professionals in the county is being totally ignored.
When asked about who did help, Lee mentioned one name of someone who stood out for him, Stan Dewhurst. Stan let Lee train at his gym in Barrow. The Flexappeal Gym was where Stan, a former Mr Universe made his name as one of the worlds premier body builders, was one of the few people who helped out and yet had others offered a helping hand Lee would almost certainly have had a better record than he currently does. Lacking the clout of a fighter promoted by someone like Frank Warren or Frank Maloney means that Lee hasn't had the best of luck in match making. With questionable stoppage losses to John Anthony and Joe Smyth being probably the two stand outs. However Lee the humility you may not expect of a boxer, admitting “Smyth I may not of beat but I'd of made it a fight if not weight drained, I had nothing in me.” Also admitting, and being very complimentary of Matty Askin, saying “he'll be British champ maybe Euro then who knows”.
The interview ended with a few more general questions:
Mayweather or Pacquiao?-”Mayweather, he just has everything, I can only sum it up as a gifted one above everyone else”
Haye or a Klitschko?-”If Haye lands its over but Klitschko will box his ears off”
View on Carl Froch?-”Froch has everything he just doesn't show how good of a boxer he is as he always has wars but the guy with the right head on can do it all.”
Fights you'd like to see in 2011?-”Froch against the other champions in his division or Amir Khan v the champions at 140.”
Again I'd like to say thanks to Lee for answer the questions asked.
Sunday, 5 December 2010
David Haye v Jean Marc Moremeck, could it be possible?
I jokingly suggested some time back that David “The pensioner beater” Haye, the current WBA Heavyweight champion may attempt to fight another “older” fighter if the fight with Ruslan Chagaev falls through due to the medical problems surrounding Chagaev. Seems like I'm not the only one with that dark sense of humour, but one of the people mentioned in that very article also seems to be thinking that Haye may like to fight older men.
With a record of 36-4, unbeaten at heavyweight and the current WBA International Heavyweight champion, it all makes sense on paper. Jean Marc Moremeck, aged 38, seems to want a rematch with the man who took his WBA and WBC Cruiserweight titles back in 2007. The most blatant quote suggesting Moremeck wants the fight was “Since Haye is afraid of no-one, he should give me my shot at revenge in Paris”. Sadly we are well aware that Haye is afraid of the Klitschko's, and it seems anyone under the age of 35, or anyone who on paper would actually give him a tough fight.
Moremeck, who turns 39 next summer added “Give me three or four months to train with the right kind of sparring partners and I’ll be ready.” Now if we give him those months, he'll be about to turn 39 (the same sort of age as Ruiz and Harrison were), though most worryingly, the Frenchman has looked terrible in recent performances, lucky to get wins over both Fres Oquendo and Timur Ibragimov. Do not let the poor performances fool you into thinking Haye would say no to the fight however, he has a reputation of fighting fighters who have been showing a lack of form:
Audley Harrison had been dominated by Michael Sprott before landing a hail Mary punch late on.
John Ruiz had gone 3-3-0-1 in a space of 5 years (don't remind me he was the mandatory, that's a whole new debate to be addressed to the WBA)
Nikolai Valuev had been beaten for all intents and purposes by Evander Holyfield, with the crowd knowing it was a robbery.
And of course Monte Barrett who had gone 3-3 before facing Haye with wins against the likes of Tye Fields, Damon Reid and Cliff Couser (a man who had beaten him).
For Marc he may have noticed these things. Lets just put the evidence together:
Haye likes to beat older men
Haye likes to beat men who haven't looked good in recent fights
Moremeck holds the WBA International heavyweight title
Timur Ibragimov was #7 with the WBA (meaning that Moremeck “should” be #9 when the rankings are updated)
Of the fighters that (using my poor following of the WBA rule book) would be left. Chagaev would/could be out on medical grounds, Valuev seems to have all but retired, Boystov appears to be in no rush and neither does Povetkin, Ustinov will be no better of an opponent, Rahman is even older (in a fighters sense, though he is 5 "months" younger in real terms) and Dimitrenko seems less and less likely after collapsing in his changing room recently.
Whether or not I'm being harsh on the self proclaimed saviour of the division is up for debate, but the Moremeck rematch actually appears, on paper, to have some merit.
With a record of 36-4, unbeaten at heavyweight and the current WBA International Heavyweight champion, it all makes sense on paper. Jean Marc Moremeck, aged 38, seems to want a rematch with the man who took his WBA and WBC Cruiserweight titles back in 2007. The most blatant quote suggesting Moremeck wants the fight was “Since Haye is afraid of no-one, he should give me my shot at revenge in Paris”. Sadly we are well aware that Haye is afraid of the Klitschko's, and it seems anyone under the age of 35, or anyone who on paper would actually give him a tough fight.
Moremeck, who turns 39 next summer added “Give me three or four months to train with the right kind of sparring partners and I’ll be ready.” Now if we give him those months, he'll be about to turn 39 (the same sort of age as Ruiz and Harrison were), though most worryingly, the Frenchman has looked terrible in recent performances, lucky to get wins over both Fres Oquendo and Timur Ibragimov. Do not let the poor performances fool you into thinking Haye would say no to the fight however, he has a reputation of fighting fighters who have been showing a lack of form:
Audley Harrison had been dominated by Michael Sprott before landing a hail Mary punch late on.
John Ruiz had gone 3-3-0-1 in a space of 5 years (don't remind me he was the mandatory, that's a whole new debate to be addressed to the WBA)
Nikolai Valuev had been beaten for all intents and purposes by Evander Holyfield, with the crowd knowing it was a robbery.
And of course Monte Barrett who had gone 3-3 before facing Haye with wins against the likes of Tye Fields, Damon Reid and Cliff Couser (a man who had beaten him).
For Marc he may have noticed these things. Lets just put the evidence together:
Haye likes to beat older men
Haye likes to beat men who haven't looked good in recent fights
Moremeck holds the WBA International heavyweight title
Timur Ibragimov was #7 with the WBA (meaning that Moremeck “should” be #9 when the rankings are updated)
Of the fighters that (using my poor following of the WBA rule book) would be left. Chagaev would/could be out on medical grounds, Valuev seems to have all but retired, Boystov appears to be in no rush and neither does Povetkin, Ustinov will be no better of an opponent, Rahman is even older (in a fighters sense, though he is 5 "months" younger in real terms) and Dimitrenko seems less and less likely after collapsing in his changing room recently.
Whether or not I'm being harsh on the self proclaimed saviour of the division is up for debate, but the Moremeck rematch actually appears, on paper, to have some merit.
Monday, 15 November 2010
Who will David Haye face next?
Whether you’re a boxing fan or not, you’ll surely have been caught up in some of the hype one side of the Atlantic or the other. Here in Blighty we had David Haye v Audley Harrison and in the US the Cowboy Stadium was the centre of attention with Manny Pacquaio v Antonio Margarito being the talking point. Which ever country you were in, you saw only one fighter winning their fight, and although Margarito put up much better fight than Harrison the bookies got them both spot on.
As I’m British I probably heard more about the Harrison v Haye farce than the other fight (which I watched and thoroughly enjoyed). So with it being Britain I’m going to focus this piece on the fight we had. Or rather the relatively legalised assault we had as calling it a fight would probably be breaching trade description act. Audley, as many seemed to think before hand, lacked the fighters instinct and after landing a meagre 1 shot in the opening 2 rounds was thoroughly beaten in the 3rd. What good will come of this? Well aside from the fact Audley Harrison has almost certainly been beaten into retirement in front of one of the largest viewing publics in recent British history.
Although it was probably the worst heavyweight title fight in recent memory, and that’s including the likes of Wladamir Klitschko v Sultan Ibragimov it has allowed boxing fans, at last, to realise that David Haye is a hypocrite. The man who said he was going to tear through the heavyweight division facing only meaningful opponents has instead faced a nobody. Not for the first time in his career, and it probably won’t be the last. Sadly though Haye has a knack of fighting older menm varying skill levels but older men. His last few opponents have been on the wrong side of 35, with Audley being 39, the most extreme age of those “old” fighters Haye has been facing in recent years.
With this in mind, I’ve come to the assumption Haye will be looking for another older fight to feast on next and decided to come up with a short list of my own. Don’t worry, about this giving Haye and Adam Booth ideas, I’m sure they already have a similar short list.
Tony Thompson-age 39, record 34-2 (22)
Thompson may not actually be far off the mark of plausibility. Thompson did spar with Haye in the build up for the Harrison fight, he was reported to have dropped Haye in sparring, allowing the fight to be sold on that. A former title challenger who has maintained a high ranking is 30-1 in his last 31 fights with his only stoppage loss coming against Wladamir Klitschko.
Juan Carlos Gomez-age 37, record 48-2-0-1 (36)
Like Haye, Gomez was a former Cruiserweight champion (holding the WBC belt from 1998 to 2002). Although once hugely talented Gomez has done the same thing as many modern day heavy’s and used the division as an excuse for an ever growing waist band. At 200lbs he was a fine athlete but now coming to the ring around 250 he looks visibly fat. Like Thompson (see above) Gomez has had a world heavyweight title fight, losing in the 9th round to Vitali Klitschko in 2009 though is on a 4 fight unbeaten streak against journeymen.
Evander Holyfield-age 48, record 43-10-2 (28)
Perhaps the heavyweight grandpa, but still a legendary name in the sport and a man who would happily sign to fight Haye any day. Although Holyfield is shot, he’s still fighting and has a fight against Sherman Williams in a few weeks coming up. Many, including myself, felt that Holyfield deserved the decision against Nikolai Valuev back in December 2008 in a WBA world title fight, and had Holyfield gotten the decision Haye may never have won the title. This fight could be sold as “Setting the record straight”, though it’ll be seen as “Haye beats up pensioner”, hard to see a bigger American name than Holyfield however and a unification fight of sorts (Holyfield holds the lightly regarded WBF title).
Antonio Tarver-age 41, record 28-6 (19)
The former Light Heavyweight champion announced his move to the heavyweight division in October with a wide points win over Nagy Aguilera. Having held various titles at 175lbs he’s trying to follow in the footsteps of rival Roy Jones Jr and take a title off one of the big men and Haye is the smallest of the big men. It’s worth noting that Tarver is pretty much the same size as Haye, admittedly he weighed 12lbs heavier in his last fight though is just 1 inch shorter and would give away 3 inches in reach. A possible match that could earn Haye some American focus.
Jean Marc Mormeck-age 38, record 35-4 (22)
A rematch of their Cruiserweight contest from back in November 2007 would this time see Haye calling the shots, rather than needing to go over to Paris for the fight. Though the interest in the contest is minimal, Mormeck is currently campaigning as a Heavyweight and was a former undisputed champion at Cruiserweight. From the eyes of those involved it could make a lot of sense, allowing Mormeck to retire on a nice payday in front of 20,000 in Britain.
David Tua-age 37, record 51-3-2 (43)
12 months ago internet forums were genuinely calling for this fight, the fan friendly Tua, a KO machine from New Zealand was on the comeback trail and a fight with Haye was almost made for fans. Though since then Tua has shown he’s no long the KO machine he once was. A very controversial draw with former Haye victim Monte Barrett last time out showed that Tua was what most 37 year old heavyweights are, washed up. Barrett dropped Tua in the 12th round, for the first time in Tua’s career he was decked. As a fighter he has managed to only get 1 world title fight and that was over a decade ago (a points loss to Lennox Lewis), perhaps he deserves another, their has been less deserving opponents (such as Harrison) after all.
Oliver McCall-age 45, record 54-10-0-2 (37)
Haye has been called the hardest hitting in the division by some of his fans, McCall has generally been called the toughest man in the division. What happens when an immoveable object meets an irresistible force? McCall will also bring some British history to the ring. In 1994 he stopped Lennox Lewis in the second round, in The Arena, in Wembley, he has also faced (and lost) to Frank Bruno and Lewis in a rematch. The rematch is best known for McCall having a mental break down, though neither the hard hitting Bruno nor Lewis could drop McCall, can Haye do what they couldn’t?
Hassan Chitsaz-age 52, record 19-1 (19)
The oldest professional heavyweight in the world today, a KO machine who scored 19 straight stoppages in the opening 2 rounds before he was beaten recently in the opening few seconds. Haye’s work of retiring fighters will work brilliantly against the Iranian born “assassin”, though it’s unlikely that the WBA will allow their title to be put on the line, that wouldn’t stop the fight from being a non-title fight. The fighting public would see more fight from Chitsaz than they saw from Harrison recently, so lets not ignore this possibility, after all Haye needs to take on some punchers, a guy who has a 95% KO record can’t hit that softly…can he?
All though these fights are tongue in I wouldn’t write them off altogether, Haye does like the older men, and although he is mandated to face Ruslan Chagaev, theirs no saying Chagaev will be able to fight in the UK due to medical worries. Maybe, just maybe, Hayes trend of old men will continue.
As I’m British I probably heard more about the Harrison v Haye farce than the other fight (which I watched and thoroughly enjoyed). So with it being Britain I’m going to focus this piece on the fight we had. Or rather the relatively legalised assault we had as calling it a fight would probably be breaching trade description act. Audley, as many seemed to think before hand, lacked the fighters instinct and after landing a meagre 1 shot in the opening 2 rounds was thoroughly beaten in the 3rd. What good will come of this? Well aside from the fact Audley Harrison has almost certainly been beaten into retirement in front of one of the largest viewing publics in recent British history.
Although it was probably the worst heavyweight title fight in recent memory, and that’s including the likes of Wladamir Klitschko v Sultan Ibragimov it has allowed boxing fans, at last, to realise that David Haye is a hypocrite. The man who said he was going to tear through the heavyweight division facing only meaningful opponents has instead faced a nobody. Not for the first time in his career, and it probably won’t be the last. Sadly though Haye has a knack of fighting older menm varying skill levels but older men. His last few opponents have been on the wrong side of 35, with Audley being 39, the most extreme age of those “old” fighters Haye has been facing in recent years.
With this in mind, I’ve come to the assumption Haye will be looking for another older fight to feast on next and decided to come up with a short list of my own. Don’t worry, about this giving Haye and Adam Booth ideas, I’m sure they already have a similar short list.
Tony Thompson-age 39, record 34-2 (22)
Thompson may not actually be far off the mark of plausibility. Thompson did spar with Haye in the build up for the Harrison fight, he was reported to have dropped Haye in sparring, allowing the fight to be sold on that. A former title challenger who has maintained a high ranking is 30-1 in his last 31 fights with his only stoppage loss coming against Wladamir Klitschko.
Juan Carlos Gomez-age 37, record 48-2-0-1 (36)
Like Haye, Gomez was a former Cruiserweight champion (holding the WBC belt from 1998 to 2002). Although once hugely talented Gomez has done the same thing as many modern day heavy’s and used the division as an excuse for an ever growing waist band. At 200lbs he was a fine athlete but now coming to the ring around 250 he looks visibly fat. Like Thompson (see above) Gomez has had a world heavyweight title fight, losing in the 9th round to Vitali Klitschko in 2009 though is on a 4 fight unbeaten streak against journeymen.
Evander Holyfield-age 48, record 43-10-2 (28)
Perhaps the heavyweight grandpa, but still a legendary name in the sport and a man who would happily sign to fight Haye any day. Although Holyfield is shot, he’s still fighting and has a fight against Sherman Williams in a few weeks coming up. Many, including myself, felt that Holyfield deserved the decision against Nikolai Valuev back in December 2008 in a WBA world title fight, and had Holyfield gotten the decision Haye may never have won the title. This fight could be sold as “Setting the record straight”, though it’ll be seen as “Haye beats up pensioner”, hard to see a bigger American name than Holyfield however and a unification fight of sorts (Holyfield holds the lightly regarded WBF title).
Antonio Tarver-age 41, record 28-6 (19)
The former Light Heavyweight champion announced his move to the heavyweight division in October with a wide points win over Nagy Aguilera. Having held various titles at 175lbs he’s trying to follow in the footsteps of rival Roy Jones Jr and take a title off one of the big men and Haye is the smallest of the big men. It’s worth noting that Tarver is pretty much the same size as Haye, admittedly he weighed 12lbs heavier in his last fight though is just 1 inch shorter and would give away 3 inches in reach. A possible match that could earn Haye some American focus.
Jean Marc Mormeck-age 38, record 35-4 (22)
A rematch of their Cruiserweight contest from back in November 2007 would this time see Haye calling the shots, rather than needing to go over to Paris for the fight. Though the interest in the contest is minimal, Mormeck is currently campaigning as a Heavyweight and was a former undisputed champion at Cruiserweight. From the eyes of those involved it could make a lot of sense, allowing Mormeck to retire on a nice payday in front of 20,000 in Britain.
David Tua-age 37, record 51-3-2 (43)
12 months ago internet forums were genuinely calling for this fight, the fan friendly Tua, a KO machine from New Zealand was on the comeback trail and a fight with Haye was almost made for fans. Though since then Tua has shown he’s no long the KO machine he once was. A very controversial draw with former Haye victim Monte Barrett last time out showed that Tua was what most 37 year old heavyweights are, washed up. Barrett dropped Tua in the 12th round, for the first time in Tua’s career he was decked. As a fighter he has managed to only get 1 world title fight and that was over a decade ago (a points loss to Lennox Lewis), perhaps he deserves another, their has been less deserving opponents (such as Harrison) after all.
Oliver McCall-age 45, record 54-10-0-2 (37)
Haye has been called the hardest hitting in the division by some of his fans, McCall has generally been called the toughest man in the division. What happens when an immoveable object meets an irresistible force? McCall will also bring some British history to the ring. In 1994 he stopped Lennox Lewis in the second round, in The Arena, in Wembley, he has also faced (and lost) to Frank Bruno and Lewis in a rematch. The rematch is best known for McCall having a mental break down, though neither the hard hitting Bruno nor Lewis could drop McCall, can Haye do what they couldn’t?
Hassan Chitsaz-age 52, record 19-1 (19)
The oldest professional heavyweight in the world today, a KO machine who scored 19 straight stoppages in the opening 2 rounds before he was beaten recently in the opening few seconds. Haye’s work of retiring fighters will work brilliantly against the Iranian born “assassin”, though it’s unlikely that the WBA will allow their title to be put on the line, that wouldn’t stop the fight from being a non-title fight. The fighting public would see more fight from Chitsaz than they saw from Harrison recently, so lets not ignore this possibility, after all Haye needs to take on some punchers, a guy who has a 95% KO record can’t hit that softly…can he?
All though these fights are tongue in I wouldn’t write them off altogether, Haye does like the older men, and although he is mandated to face Ruslan Chagaev, theirs no saying Chagaev will be able to fight in the UK due to medical worries. Maybe, just maybe, Hayes trend of old men will continue.
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