By Scott Gilfoid: Former two division world champion David Haye is slowly rehabbing an injured right shoulder that he had surgically repaired not long ago. The question of whether Haye can ever return to the ring or not is still unknown. He seems to think that he might not be able to return because he’s still unable to throw punches or do any kind of weight lifting despite it being months since his surgery.
“I’d love to fight, but maybe my body is telling me to call it a day,” Haye said to Talksport. “You have to listen to your body and when your bicep detaches from your shoulder and your arm sort of rolls down, your body is telling you it’s enough. I can just about do eight press press-ups. I’m months and months away from even punching a bag, let alone a person.”
Yeah, it might be time for Haye to hang up the old gloves. If he comes back with his right hand at just 25%, he’s going to be in for a world of hurt if he actually fights someone good. Thus far, Haye has fought only one good heavyweight during his career in Wladimir Klitschko. The rest of the heavyweights that Haye has fought were largely mediocre and in some cases dreadful heavyweights. Does Haye need two good arms to beat guys like his past heavyweight opponents Monte Barrett, Audley Harrison and Jon Ruiz? I’d say that’s a big no.
Haye’s injuries could be a sign that he’s too old to be fighting or it could be a sign that all the weight lifting that he’s been doing is finally starting to catch up to him after all these years. Haye isn’t a naturally big guy like Deontay Wilder, so he’s kind of been forced to lift weights in order to stay in the heavyweight division as a small heavyweight. Unfortunately, Haye doesn’t have the height or frame to be one of the big guys, and that’s why weight lifting has been so important for him. But the weight lifting might be what’s ultimately caused Haye’s career to be in jeopardy.
In hindsight, Haye might have been better off staying in the cruiserweight division where he belongs and had a long career fighting the likes of Marco Huck, Tony Bellew, and Nathan Cleverly. The money obviously wouldn’t be as good for Haye, but it’s possible that he’d still have come out ahead simply by being able to fight a much longer period of time by avoiding injuries.
If Haye does return to the ring, it’s quite possible that he’ll not have full strength in his right hand like he did before. In that case he’ll be pretty much just a one armed fighter having to battle the giant heavyweights with just his left hook. He doesn’t have the size to out-jab the huge heavyweights like Deontay Wilder, so it would be him trying to fight off the monster heavyweights with a left hook that is designed for in close action against smaller guys or the larger heavyweights that are stupid enough to stand close to Haye.
Haye could still make some decent money if he fights domestically when he comes back. He probably doesn’t need to use his right hand at all in order to beat the likes of Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dereck Chisora. Heck, he already beat Chisora in 2012 with little more than his left hand. He brained Chisora with a left hook, and made quick work of him. I don’t see anything changing in that regard in a rematch. Haye’s right hand could be like a vestigial limb like the dinosaurs’ hands, and he could learn to dominate his carefully selected opposition.
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