Haye Shows His Human Side

By Kieran Gallagher: David Haye has shown a rare glimpse of his more human side after describing himself as ‘extremely upset’ by the brutal manner in which his former foe Enzo Maccarinelli was knocked out in the 7th round at LG Arena, Birmingham on 18th September.

Haye is possibly the biggest trash talker in boxing today. In the past he has described Nikolai Valuev as a circus freak and the ugliest man he has ever met, he has worn a t-shirt displaying both Klitschko brothers with decapitated heads, and more recently predicted his upcoming bout with Audley Harrison “will be more one-sided than a gang rape.”

So it is all the more surprising that Haye has offered only words of compassion and support to his fallen rival.

Haye was ringside when Maccarinelli was hit flush with a huge left thrown by Austrian Alexander Frenkel. The Welshman bravely climbed off the canvas, but he was clearly out-on-his-feet, when Frenkel finished him off with another hook that savagely jarred his head back.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Haye said: “I found it extremely upsetting and sobering to watch Enzo lose like that on Saturday. Enzo is one of boxing’s true gentlemen and he’d shown a tremendous amount of guts and heart to rebound from defeat and win the European belt. I was desperate for him to win back his old world title, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

“I actually saw Enzo leave in the ambulance after the show on Saturday had ended, and it was quite an emotional sight. It was only two years ago that Enzo and I were squaring off in the biggest all-British unification match in years. We were both 27 at the time and we both had the world at our feet. I was the number one cruiserweight in the world, Enzo was number two, and we both had dreams of unifying the division.

“It just goes to show what a fickle and unfair sport this can be sometimes.”

Since Maccarinelli’s recent string of defeat’s, many fans and pundits view the Welshman as a tragicomic figure, but it wasn’t so long ago that he was viewed as good a prospect as Haye. Going into their 2008 cruiserweight match-up, the press were completely divided over the outcome.

Today the boxing world harbour more ambivalent feelings for Maccarinelli, but it’s clear that Haye still has nothing but respect for the Welshman and he pulled no punches over the inadequate performance of the referee and his corner.

He said: “I was disgusted with the way the referee and Enzo’s own corner allowed him to continue to fight on following the first knockdown on Saturday. He was hit by a huge left-hook, went down as though he’d been knocked clean out, and then somehow bravely pulled himself to his feet.

“Anybody who knows boxing – and anybody who knows Enzo – would have been aware that the fight should have been stopped immediately. He was in a far worse state following that first knockdown on Saturday than he was when I stopped him.

“However, the referee and corner stupidly allowed him to continue and we all saw what happened next. What were these people expecting Enzo to do at that stage? He was never going to turn things around in the state he was in. Everybody at ringside was shouting for the fight to be stopped, as we all knew what was about to happen.”

“His corner need to take a long, hard look at themselves and question why they let him continue trying to fight beyond that first knockdown. Boxers rely on their corner men for protection and, unfortunately, Enzo’s let him down badly on Saturday. I only hope the people around him have his best interests at heart and now guide him towards the correct decision going forward.”

Quotes like these may lead many observers to question whether Haye has turned a corner from some of his more unsavoury episodes in the past, but that’s probably unlikely. Maccarinelli is the only big name that Haye never disrespected in the run-up to a fight and that’s probably due to the pair of them being friends. Expect normal service to be resumed when a journalist rams a microphone in Haye’s face and asks him about the Harrison fight.

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