Did Haye Destroy His Credibilty as a Heavyweight?

By Chris Williams: It’s hard to believe how quickly British heavyweight David Haye (22-1, 21 KO’s) has disappeared in the minds of many boxing fans. Just two months ago, Haye, 28, was arguably one of the most popular heavyweights in the division, even though he had done next to nothing to establish himself as a fighter to be reckoned with by fighting anyone of note.

All it took back then was some cheap trash talking and the boxing world were ready to buy into his hype. However, Haye quickly ruined pretty every bit of credibility that he ever had by first backing out of a fight with IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko that was supposed to take place on June 20th, saying that he had a back injury.

Whether it was an injury or not, it didn’t help Haye win over any new fans in the boxing world. Although Haye attempted to get Wladimir to postpone the bout for three weeks, Klitschko wasn’t interested because he didn’t trust that Haye would be able to make it to the fight without cancelling again.

Haye still was in an good position to undo the damage when he was given another unearned opportunity for a title shot when Vitali Klitschko, the WBC heavyweight champion, started negotiating with Haye for a proposed fight. After weeks of contract talks, without saying a world to Klitschko, Haye suddenly backed out and took a fight with WBA heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev.

Haye said that he didn’t like the way that he was being treated while in negotiations with Klitschko, and especially didn’t like the terms of the contract. However, it looked to many boxing fans like Haye was afraid of fighting the Klitschko brothers and had run off after getting cold feet.

Could it be that Haye was afraid of getting destroyed by the Klitschko brothers? His behavior was very strange to say the least, because most heavyweight contenders would die for a chance to fight either of the Klitschko brothers, yet here Haye was backing out of not one but two fights.

His choice of Valuev, an oversized paper champion, made Haye look more and more like the cherry picker that he’d been since leaving the cruiserweight division in 2008. Haye has done a lot of bragging about his abilities since moving up to the heavyweight division in late 2008, but he’s fallen far short in backing up any of what he’s been saying.

Coming out of the cruiserweight division, Haye said he was going to take on a top heavyweight contender that would impress boxing fans. So who does Haye choose to fight? He decides on fighting 38-year-old journeyman Monte Barrett instead of a younger, stronger, more talented heavyweight like Alexander Povetkin, Odlanier Solis (who already stopped Haye in the amateurs) or Kevin Johnson.

Valuev, 35, is an aging heavyweight champion who appears to be at the end of the line and ready to be knocked off by any halfway decent heavyweight. Valuev looked poor in his last fight with Evander Holyfield and probably should have lost the bout.

Instead, Valuev won a controversial 12 round decision. Haye will probably beat Valuev, but unless he does it in a dramatic fashion, Haye won’t get the kind of attention that he’s hoping for with boxing fans. Haye is counting on a victory over Valuev in making him a star in the division and allowing him to get parity with the Klitschko brothers in financial negotiations.

I don’t see how that can happen. A win over Valuev is meaningless and would prove nothing because he’s so beatable at this point in his career. For Haye to be on even terms with the Klitschkos, he would have to have proven himself as top fighter in the division by beating a number of top contenders, not a washed up paper champion like Valuev.

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