By Michael Lieberman: After months of searching for a big-named opponent, much hyped British heavyweight David Haye (22-1, 21 KOs) settled for nearly 40-year-old journeyman Monte Barrett as his opponent for his November 15th showcase fight, knocking him down early and often, eventually stopping him in the 5th round.
Beating Barrett was a nice start for Haye to give people a look at him, but there were, however, problems for Haye in the fight, namely how easy it was for Barrett to land his right hands to the head. Not only did Haye get hit a lot in the short fight, he also appeared to be dropped by a left hand in the 5th round by Barrett.
The referee ruled that it was a slip, but it appeared real to me and many other non-biased observers who saw the fight. But worst of all, though, was how hurt Haye appeared after hitting the deck. He stayed down a long time recovering from the shot and needed a lengthy amount of time before he finally got up off the deck.
If Barrett was seemingly able to hurt Haye with a left hand, then what are Haye’s chances against one of the Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitali, who hit much harder and are much taller than Barrett. Say what you want about the Klitschko brothers, but they both hit very hard, hard enough to knock out the vast majority of their opponents.
With their long reach and big power, they’re almost guaranteed to land with something big early on against Haye, and if that happens, I wonder if his chin will be able to withstand the shots that he’s getting hit with.
Against Barrett, Haye looked slow, lethargic, sloppy on defense and wild with his punches. In other words, he looked amateurish and not nearly polished enough to take on and beat either of the Klitschko brothers. In the media, Haye has mentioned wanting to fight both of them, starting with Vitali in 2009.
Haye didn’t look nearly good enough to beat either of them, to be frank, and looked more like a wild bottom 10 fighter like Travis Walker rather than a top tier fighter. In truth, I’d rate Walker as a better, more dangerous fighter than Haye mainly because Walker has bigger size at 6’4″, longer reach and a much better left hand than the Haye, who mainly uses his right all the time to score his knockouts.
Walker is dangerous with both hands, but unfortunately equally as sloppy with his punches and on defense. I think Walker would walk right through Haye if they were to fight each other, and that’s who Haye should be fighting instead of the Klitschko brothers, because he’s clearly not in their league.
At the end of the day, I’m not sure what will happen to Haye after he gets taken out by Vitali or Wladimir, because it will likely be a devastating knockout and will likely have a huge impact on his career.
I suspect that it would be sufficient to drive him to the bottom of the top 10, where he probably really belongs and where he can fight it out with the likes of Walker, Kevin Johnson, Tony Thompson, Lamon Brewster and Odlanier Solis, all of which I consider better fighters than Haye.
Over time, I see Haye dropping out of the top 15. I suspect that once he loses to one or both of the Klitschko brothers, Haye will seek out largely 2nd and 3rd tier fighters and will try and work his way back into a title shot without facing a top tier heavyweight.
He’ll probably succeed eventually and lining up another shot at a title over time, but will have the same result, losing by knockout again. Over time, I see his career much like Jameel McCline, getting multiple shots at the title but losing each time out.
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