By Thomas Hanson: In somewhat of a real head scratcher, David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) has recently been pushed up to near the top of the WBO and WBC rankings, specifically to number #3 in the WBO and #5 in the WBC, all without having fought any heavyweight matches recently. I could see Haye, 27, being ranked in the bottom 15 of the heavyweight rankings because he did prove himself as a capable fighter while fighting in the cruiserweight division, but to have him vaulted all the way to near the top at number # 3 and #5, seems totally unfair to the fighters that have been standing in line all this time waiting to get a turn at one of the titles.
At the same time, it makes these ranking organizations look more than a little bad since Haye has fought only once as a heavyweight, a fight over a year ago against little-known Polish heavyweight Tomasz Bonin. Other than the fairness issue, I have no problem with Haye being ranked high in the heavyweight division, for it brings instant excitement to the division and forces the heavyweights champions, such as Wladimir Klitschko and Samuel Peter, to potentially have to deal with Haye. However, it seems kind of misguided to have Haye pushed ahead of good heavyweights like John Ruiz, Chris Arreola, Hasim Rahman, Denis Boystov and Alexander Povetkin, to name but a few, without having fought any real heavyweight competition.
I’m not sure what the reasoning was for placing Haye so high in the rankings, but he should have at least cut his teeth on three or four opponents, preferably good ones, before being pushed up beyond other heavyweights that have proven themselves before.
In this case, his ego seems to be way ahead for his level of experience and he’s probably going to be in for a rude awakening. I don’t expect him to face a live body in his fight on November 15th, even though he’s claimed that he’s going to be fighting a top level opponent. I think he’s too smart for that, and won’t to risk things by facing a dangerous puncher that can screw up any chances for a title shot. At the number #3 spot in the WBO, Haye is within a whisper of getting a title shot against the winner of Wladimir Klitschko vs. Alexander Povetkin.
Haye is also poised for a future title shot against either Samuel Peter or Vitali Klitschko, although I doubt that Haye is all that interested in fighting either of them now or in the future because they’re too dangerous. Both of those fights are bad match-ups for Haye because they have excellent chins and punch very hard, meaning they would probably be able to withstand Haye’s early onslaught without any problems and then take him out in the later rounds, similar to what Carl Thompson did to Haye in a 5th round TKO upset win in September 2004.
August 15th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Good luck to haye, talking didnt stop Ali from win not that i am saying haye is anything like Ali but it is good to see some of these young boxer with a bit of confidence causing a storm with the other boxers. Haye and malinaggi to say a few.
August 17th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
farcical that he is ranked in top 5 with WBO and WBC but cant say im surprised with bias rankings from either of them. Let him fight someone or even name a fighter. He could now afford to fight a bum in november and still be ranked No 1 contender for WBO after povetkin fights klitschko. He must get experience of fighting at this weight or expect a big fall that he might never come back from.
August 17th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
What a load of rubbish! Call this boxing journalism? It’s just a diatribe that shows no real knowledge of boxing. I article is negative from start to finish, just a plain old bloody moan. How about this comment: “He’s like an amateur race car driver, who suddenly after beating a few people of the streets, mistakenly be can go to the Indianapolis 500 and beat much more accomplished drivers. ” Pathetic! There is nothing amateur about being undisputed cruiserweight champion, it takes the same skills as it does in all the divisions to be successful, and Haye has produced them. It’s not to say he doesn’t have flaws, but he’s exceptionally talented, fast, mobile, determined and intelligent. He is absolutely a bet boxer than Povetkin, Ruiz etc.. It’s a real shame to see this kind of rubbish being printed as if it was informative journalism. I wouldn’t mind if the positives of his already fantastically successful boxing career were pitted against the new challenges he’ll face in the HW division, but no, this was just put downs and back handed compliments. I’d rather be informed about boxing that someone’s ‘personal antagonism’…gosh, it’s real handbags stuff..’I don’t like him, he’s got a big gob!’ Feck that, can he box? Yes he can…totally and utterly proven world class boxer! Get a life!
August 17th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Haye deserves it because of his acomplishments at the Crusierweight Division.
August 18th, 2008 at 4:59 am
Very good article. I agree with it. And I am sure that november fight will be against old sack as Rahman.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
What a load of tosh… i have never heard such drivel in all my life. I’m with Ring King on this.
Lets start by asking the author a question… when pacman stepped up to Lightweight did he have to fight below par opponents first before being ranked in the top ten? NO he went straight in against Diaz.
When he steps up to Light-welter do you think he is going to have to fight nobodies and be ranked outside of the top ten? No he will more than likely go straight in against Hatton. How about Mayweather or ODLH did they have to have warm up fights when moving up in weight? No.
So why should it be any different for Haye? He knocked out the 2 guys regarded as the other 2 best in the division and unified the titles. He went to Mormecks (the man who beat the man in O’Neil Bell) back yard, dehydrated and weight drained and knocked him out then went on to knock out the No2 ranked fighter in the division in a 2 round demolishion.
Haye is naturally a heavyweight. He is the undisputed Cruiserweight champ stepping up a weight just like the people mentioned earlier and deserves to be ranked highly.
He’ll be the quickest Heavyweight the division has seen since a young Lennox Lewis, with the same formidable power to boot. He blew himself out in just his 10th pro fight against Carl Thompson… some might say due to the hard task he has always faced making the Cruiser limit… don’t read too much into the loss on his record.
And as for the he needs to test himself against a Heavyweight comment… He did in a pro fight and blew Bonin away inside a round… He has also done a lot of sparring in the past with Danny Williams, yes that is the heavyweight Danny Williams who knocked Tyson out and is a fairly decent HW with a decent punch to say the least and Danny Williams has himself made it public knowledge that Haye has more than handled himself during those sparring sessions and has said he expects Haye to be HW Champ in the not too distant future.
People like you need to get off Hayes back and just sit back and watch the re-birth of the HW division because i have seen all of Hayes fights and as a boxer and big boxing fan i can tell you that Haye will surprise a lot of the doubters and Klitschko and his glass jaw should be worried.
August 19th, 2008 at 4:29 am
I think Haye’s ranking at this time is realistic i really do , he was the undisputed Cruiserweight champion with all 3 belts , and pound for pound there is not a heavy weight with his skills on this planet , in fact on skill set there is no heavy weight even close to him , however he is chinny , but i really beleive he has all the tools to destroy the heavy weight division , he should have one fight before getting his shot lets not forget Haye did fight at heavy weight before he fought Mormeck , i think Haye should push for the winner of Peter , Vitali as they are recognised as the best fighters although Wladimir is the champ he is not recognised as the top man , by the rankings yes but not by the people on the street he is widely seen as a joke .
If Haye gets the winner of Peter , Vitali that puts him on top of the tree should he win that fight and the big fights will come after him not the other way around , either way David Haye is the only heavyweight who could fill out the MGM , or Madison Sq Garden , and my god it has been a long time since we had an exciting Heavyweight so stop moaning and let him do his thing !!!!
November 15th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
WHAT A LOAD OF BIASED TOSH. HAYE WAS THE UNDISPUTED CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION AND WILL BE EVEN BETTER FIGHTING AT HEAVYWEIGHT AS HE WAS STRUGGLING TO MAKE THE WEIGHT FOR HIS LAST TWO FIGHTS. HE’LL CLEAN UP THE HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION NO PROBLEM, HE’S TOO CLASSY AND QUICK FOR ANY OF THE LUMBERING EASTERN EUROPEAN OR AMERICAN FIGHTERS.