Haye Interested In Bout With Peter

By Aaron Klein: WBA/WBO cruiserweight champion David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) received a bit of good news on when he found out that he had been received an incredible number #5 ranking in the WBC heavyweight division, bringing him only a short distance from being the number #1 mandatory for WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter’s title. According to an interview with Setanta Sports News, Haye, 27, is interested in a fight with Peter before Haye fights Wladimir Klitschko.

As usual, Haye is jumping a little ahead of himself, namely because Klitschko hasn’t of yet agreed to fight Haye, instead telling him to gain weight and get in line with the other heavyweights trying to get a bout with him. Not to be dissuaded, Haye instead intends on going for what Klitschko values the most – a heavyweight title belt – and if Haye can get Peter to give him shot, and possibly beat him, then Klitschko would naturally be more than interested in fighting Haye in order to grab another title to his growing collection.

Peter, 27, would figure to be the worst possible matchup for Haye, and the reasons are simple: Peter can take a heck of a shot and still keep coming forward, and he also carries his enormous power late into his fights. This means that if Haye couldn’t knock Peter out in the early going, when Haye typically gets most of his knockouts, Haye would be forced to use his boxing skills in the second half of the fight (when he fades) to prevent Peter from knocking him out.

I personally don’t think Haye could survive being stalked by Peter for 12 full rounds, because Peter is excellent at putting pressure on his opponents and has improved immensely at cutting off the ring. To boot, Peter’s power is about on the same level as Haye, which means that Haye would have to deal with potential knockout shots in every round of the fight. Unlike Wladimir Klitschko, a tall 6’6” heavyweight who is fast on his feet, Haye doesn’t have the movement to stay away from the likes of Peter for a 12 rounds.

The only reason Wladimir was able to beat Peter was because he ran constantly for the entire fight, and clinched Peter at every opportunity. Haye has never moved well in the ring, mostly walking his opponents down and banging them with big shots. It’s not surprising that Haye hasn’t had to use movement. His power and hand speed has enabled him to more than make up for having little foot movement in the cruiserweight division. That may or may not continue to be the case as he gets accustomed to fighting as a heavyweight, but in certain fights, like against a slugger in the mold of Peter, Haye will have to be able to move in order to keep from getting knocked out. Short of that, Haye better hope that his chin has gotten better since moving up. I doubt that it has, though.

Haye hasn’t yet named an opponent for his next fight, but knowing him it probably is a big name like Hasim Rahman or one of the other highly ranked fighters in the division. Andrew Golota, now 40, would seem like the perfect opponent for Haye, since he’s still got a well known name to most boxing fans, and he still can fight a little. Haye would likely have little trouble in dispatching Golota, but it might be an interesting fight if Golota can last into the second half of the fight, when Haye sometimes tires out. Then we might see a whole different scenario, with Haye having to fight for his life as Golota stalks him down the stretch run.

Haye mentioned in the Setanta interview that he’s tripled his calorie intake, trying to put weight on his slender 200 lb frame in order to compete with the larger heavyweights in the division. However, Haye vowed not to let the extra weight change the manner of how he fights, as he intents on staying in shape and being athletic so he can stay quick and powerful like he was previously while fighting in the cruiserweight division.

Haye’s ranking to the #5 spot in the WBC heavyweight division, vaults him over more established heavyweights like Oleg Maskaev - #6 WBC, Chris Arreola - #7 and Andrew Golota -#8 WBC. I imagine none of them are too happy having Haye, who’s only fought once previously as a heavyweight in his career, being thrust ahead of them with such limited experience at heavyweight. In Maskaev’s case, he just recently lost his WBC heavyweight title in a 6th round TKO to Samuel Peter in March, and it can’t be a pleasant feeling to see Haye placed ahead of him in the rankings.