By Scott Gilfoid: British heavyweight David Haye (28-2, 26 KOs) revealed on Wednesday that he’ll be returning to the ring to resume his boxing career on December 10 against an opponent still to determined. Let’s hope for the sport’s sake that the soon to be 36-year-old Haye will be fighting a live body on this date instead of another bottom feeder fringe contender like his last two opponents Arnold Gjergjaj and Mark De Mori.
Those guys looked like they didn’t even deserve to be rated in the top 100, let alone top 15. You have to commend Haye for having the eagle eye to find them among the fringe contenders, but they were just awful fights that told us nothing about Haye other than the fact that he can beat weak opposition.
Haye’s last mismatch was in May of this year against Gjergjaj. It was a pretty awful fight to watch unless you like watching obscure fighters with marginal talent get blown away in two rounds by a former two division world champion.
Here’s the news on Haye’s Twitter site:
“Here’s a small update. I’m fit, healthy & will be back in the ring on 10 Dec 016. Opponent to be announced very soon. You’ll be happy.”
It’s possible that Haye could be fighting 44-year-old former World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Shannon ”The Cannon” Briggs (60-6-1, 53 KOs). Briggs recently fought Emilio Zarate on Haye’s undercard last May. Briggs said that he agreed to fight on Haye’s card under the condition that he would get a fight against him.
It was thought that Haye would fight Briggs in September. When that failed to happen, a lot of boxing fans suspected that Haye had changed his mind about giving Briggs the fight. However, it would be a good ending to the story if Haye does give Briggs the fight. it might actually help Haye get some attention in the boxing world, because Briggs seems to be very good at creating interest in the sport. Briggs followed former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko around trying to get a fight against him. When that failed to work, Briggs turned his attention to Haye, and came over to the UK to try and get a fight against him.
Briggs posted this on his Instagram site on Wednesday about Haye:
“On sale now!!! Hurray up and buy!!! Let’s go Champ! Let’s go champ! Coward appreciation day AKA Haye day. Let’s go champ. You know why I’m bombing you on today Mr. David Haye. Sign now. The United Kingdom won’t ever let you live it down. They won’t support you. Ever. No mercy today. Shut down your Instagram account and Twitter. Let’s Go Champ.”
If Haye doesn’t fight Briggs, then I wouldn’t expect him to fight anyone particularly dangerous or talented. If Haye were beaten by one of the solid heavyweights in the division, it would potentially spoil his chances for a big money fight against IBF belt holder Anthony Joshua in the future. The fight might still come off at some point even with a Haye loss, but his bargaining position might not be good. The news of the fight would also likely not be as big a deal to the boxing public if he is beaten by one of the fringe contenders he faces. That’s why I suspect that Haye will either fight Briggs next on December 10 or someone around the same level talent wise. I don’t think for a second that Haye is going to fight a talented heavyweight.
Haye is currently ranked #3 IBF, #4 WBO, #5 WBC, and #6 WBA. You can only imagine what Haye’s ranking would be if he had faced a quality heavyweight since making his comeback to the sport earlier this year in January. Instead of taking it easy with fights against little known De Mori and Gjergjaj, Haye should have fought the likes of Kubrat Pulev and Luis “The real King Kong” Ortiz. I would venture to guess that if Haye fought both of those guys and beat them, he would be ranked #1 by all four of the sanctioning bodies in the heavyweight division instead of his current ranking.
Heck, the sanctioning bodies are being WAY too kind to Haye by ranking him as high as he is right now off of his nothing wins over De Mori and Gjergjaj. If I was in charge of the rankings, I would have moved Haye downwards after those two fights rather than upwards, because he didn’t show me anything by facing a quality heavyweight.
Haye needs to do something to broaden his appeal in the boxing world, because he hasn’t had a serious fight since his one-sided 12 round unanimous decision loss to Wladimir Klitschko in July 2011. Haye lost his WBA heavyweight title in that fight. That was five years ago. Haye has only fought three times since then. Haye beat domestic level fighter Dereck Chisora in July 2012 in stopping him in the 5th round. After that fight, Haye was out of the sport for close to four years with injuries and what not. Haye suffered a hand injury that wiped out a match against Manuel Charr that was supposed to take place on June 29, 2013. Further, Haye was twice scheduled to fight Tyson Fury with both fights failing to take place due to injuries. Haye’s first scheduled fight against Fury in September 2013 was postponed due to Haye suffering a cut. The rescheduled fight in February also failed to happen due to an injury Haye suffered in training. Haye suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery.
Haye is being trained by Shane McGuigan. He and his past trainer Adam Booth went their different ways in 2014.