Will David Haye’s ‘Mayweather move’ cost him dear come December?
October 20th, 2010
By Danny Duffy: For British fight fans and boxing critics around the world, the WBA world title clash between holder David Haye and challenger Audley Harrison is rather intriguing. Few are arguing that Harrison deserves a title shot, or that Haye is not cherry picking an easy victory rather than taking on one of the Klitschkos; but when one considers the history and characters involved it is undeniably an entertaining match-up.
Audley Harrison, 39, was the prospect that never became the contender… yet may just become the champion. After winning gold at the Sydney Olympics, Harrison hand picked his first ten opponents and never seemed to progress stylistically. He did not have the heart or the stamina for the professional game, but, when he dared use it, his left hand proved deadly. Michael Sprott found out just how deadly in the final round of their European title fight; the fight that gained (not earned!) Harrison his forthcoming shot at Haye’s portion of the heavyweight crown. Harrison has four losses on his record, including one to Belfast taxi driver Martin Rogan, and has never shared the professional ring with a world class fighter. But if he can find Haye’s elusive yet questionable chin this December, he may very well be the next WBA heavyweight champion.
There would be a certain irony in a Harrison victory. Haye’s reluctance to fight one of the Klitschko brothers may come back to haunt him. A loss in a relatively low paid fight with Harrison would cost him the pay check he may have bagged against one of the Ukrainians; and the fallout would be all the more severe. It is not shameful to be beaten by a Klitschko, but a loss from the third best fighter in London would make nonsense of Haye’s claim to be the best in the world.
Perhaps it is for this reason that I have swayed from my better instinct to make my outlandish fight prediction: I believe that Harrison will land a left hand on Haye’s chin at some point and knock him out. It would be a great upset, but a good day for boxing. It would send a message to all fighters that choose the ‘soft’ option instead of taking on the big boys of their division. The likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr. for example.
So maybe – just maybe – ‘Ordinary’ Audley’s pipe dream will be realised and he will become the next WBA heavyweight title holder come December 2010.
Watch this space…
Tags: 22 Responses to “Will David Haye’s ‘Mayweather move’ cost him dear come December?”
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birds of same feathers…pacroid/cheato,may/haye
Mayweather and Haye are both holding things up. I see alot of fear written all over the both of them……They both are really boring with the pathetic excuses but the big question should be is which one is the most obnoxious.
@roger the meth..if more fighters were like mayweather the sport would be dead..last 4 fights he did 2.4 jsut shy under 1mil..1.05 and 1.4 mil …and hes killing the sport lol…how by getting people to dish out 59.95 and 64.95 to watch him and hes killing the sport lol..thats really funny lol. so what about the other fighters who cant get anybody to watch them..they are saving the sport??
anga bobo
u cant say mayweather and haye are denying their fans what they want but then say they are support his actions…if they are suppoprting his actions then they are happy on who he chooses to picks to fight or not fight then they arent gettign denied on what they want.
wow the power of invoking the magical mayweather to try to raise another boxing career. Isn’t david haye already popular you don’t need to name drop for him.
Now here comes Amir Khan doing the same thing. He talks about fighting Mayweather even though he’s in a different weight class, and even though he has a tough fight coming up. He’s not gonna fight Floyd either
I hope that what ever boxing council that governs the heavyweight or the welterweights or in any weight division should have the authority to impose its penalties and or stripping them off their world title belt for failure or refusing or deliberately keep dodging another fighter a shot for their world title. Haye and Mayweather are denying their fans who somehow has followed them and somewhat contributed in their fame and fortune. I demand that they should be stripped from their title belts if they continue docking a legitimate challenger. In this case, the Klitschko brothers and Manny Pacquiao respectively.
Pac and his camp are the ones who talk about mayweather this and Mayweather that but they know they have to fight clean just like Mosely had to. and we all saw what happened. Team Pac are the ones who run to less caliber fighters, and force these less caliber fighters to starve themselves before the fight. Floyd just took out the top dog, and he made it look way too easy. This writer is either stupid or he’s a con man. You can say that Haye is following Manny Paquiao’s lead. Just like a guy said last week all you fools were swearing up and down that Shane was gonna whip Floyd and smack him around. They even claimed Floy would weasel his way out of the fight and that he was forced to have to fight Shane. Well nobody is forcing Pac to fight a real champion. Margaritto is not a champion. Cotto fought for a vacant title to become champ after getting smashed by Margaritto (with plaster in his hands) which means he never beat a champion for that belt. Pac is the cherrypicker obviously. He saw Cotto get knocked out and he was like ooh, I wanna fight him. He saw Hatton get knocked out and he was like ooh I wanna fight him. He saw Margaritto get knocked out and he was like ooh, I wanna fight him. Joshua Clottey was the only guy who hadnt been recently knocked out. He gets credit for Clottey fight. He needs to fight a real champion to claim P4P title is all i’m saying. I do agree Floyd should fight P . Williams or Berto or Sergio Martinez if Pac won’t do random testing like Floyd has asked.
Please don’t compare Mayweather to this CLOWN.
@Klitschko fan: At HW Haye has a lot to prove. At cruiserweight he fought champs, hence why he was undisputed, but I agree that he still hasn’t had any fights against real fighters like the Klits.
@Damian
Your point A is misunderstood. ‘Few are arguing that Harrison deserves a title shot’ means not many people think he has done anything to deserve a fight for the title. The writer is not say he deserves one, quite the opposite.
“Harrison has NEVER been in the ring with a world class fighter!”
Neither has Haye.
While I found this an interesting read so ta, there are a few issues:
(a) ‘Few are arguing that Harrison deserves a title shot’?
Are you seriously suggesting he ‘deserves’ a title shot. He has never deserved a stitle shot, the fact he has one says that the fight is the most lucrative save for a Klitshko.
(b) I think Haye should KO this guy but agree as it gets closer there is an uneasy feeling about this fight that the L hand may well cause some damage.
(c) Is it not understandable that Haye creams it for one year then fights the Klitshkos? Assuming he gets past Frailty, then he can then fight the ever slowing big boys from the Ukraine.
Isnt Floyd waiting til Manny is a bit more old and a bit more beaten up?
I think Haye could have either or both of the K’s. I still think speed kills. I read some moronic statement on this website recently about Briggs throwing more punches against VK than Haye against the Russian Man Mountain. Yes of course he did, but he didnt land!!!! Daft sod!
The “Championship of London” between Haye vs Harrison has entertainment value to some British fans, but could hardly be classified as a HW “blockbuster”.
The comedy will be on Haye should he get beat.
Harrison is the worst HW in the world fact! Im sick of these american writers that have seen harrisons last 2 fights! Harrison has NEVER been in the ring with a world class fighter! hes never been in the ring with a fighter in the top 20 rankings he is really slow and is afriad to throw punches!! While haye has soo far in the HW div fought a champion, a number one contender and a master of the defense monte barret.. harrison was even loosing his fight against sprott! he dident win a round! the only way haye and mayweather are alike is that they are world class fighters… the klits are too greedy! the want to puck the venue the better share in the profits and rematch cluses;s! Haye to beat harrison if not i the first round then in four! ive seen these two fighters and haye is worlds apart from harrison!
Harrison will administer to Haye the cure for his “Mayweather Syndrome”.
Harrison doesn’t have a bomb mate.
Haye will not want to take out Harrison early in the fight. It would only show the mediocrity of the match. He will want to do it in the later rounds to make it look exciting. That should give Harrison time to drop his bomb if he will.
if all boxers are of the same mould as haye amd mayweather then boxing as a sport will gradually die..
Good article but..to point out Haye and Floyd for something EVERYONE has done and will continue to do is a scapegoat other wise great article.
Good article but I don’t agree. Harrison has less chance than Samuel peter did against wlad. He has been outboxed in multiple occasions by domestic fighters , has a rather pathetic jab and is largely static. Haye, by ko, inside 2 rounds
I fully agree with you that Haye and Mayweather are fight-dodgers. We need more Pacquiaos. People like Mayweather and Haye are ruining the sport! Also, very well written! Thumbs up!