David Haye to make a big announcement today

By Boxing News - 10/19/2016 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: Heavyweight David Haye says he’s going to be making a big announcement today about his future plans. On Tuesday, the 36-year-old Haye said this on his Twitter site: “I’ve got a big announcement to come tomorrow. Be sure to stay tuned.”

Some boxing fans immediately started guessing that Haye’s big announcement would be a fight against Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne. However, Browne said “Not me,” so you can rule him out as part of Haye’s big news. Presumably, Haye will be announcing his December opponent.

I think speak for everybody when I say that I’m hoping that Haye at least fights a legitimate contender this time instead of another obscure fringe level contender that few boxing fans have heard of before. Haye’s last two opponents, Arnold Gjergjaj and Mark De Mori, were dreadfully poor fights. Haye bragged afterwards about being able to blow them both out quickly, but they looked awful. As bad as those guys fought, it’s not hard to imagine any top heavyweight obliterating them in the same fashion that Haye did.

Haye (28-2, 26 KOs) still needs to show that he’s not the same fighter that was embarrassed by Wladimir Klitschko in a one-sided fight in 2011, because I happen to think he’s still the same fighter. Haye’s wins over a couple of unknown heavyweights didn’t change my perception of him. It’s going to take a win over a solid top contender for me to believe that Haye is for real, and I’m not talking about Tony Bellew.

A fight between Haye and WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew could be happening in the first quarter of 2017 in March. If the match gets negotiated, it’ll likely be on Sky Box Office pay-per-view. Bellew has never fought at heavyweight before, and it’s likely to be a mismatch. That fight could be another disappointment for the boxing world if it turns out to be a one-sided affair, which I think it will. If Haye wants to fight a cruiserweight, I’d much prefer to see him fight Oleksandr Usyk than to fight a flawed fighter like Bellew. At least the southpaw Usyk has Olympic credentials behind him, and he could wind up boxing Haye’s ears off.

It’s not likely that Haye and 44-year-old Shannon Briggs will be fighting in December, because Haye has repeatedly said the fight isn’t pay-per-view worthy. Briggs wants the fight to be on PPV. Frankly, I suspect we’re going to see Haye revert to form by fighting another bottom feeder that few casual boxing fans have ever heard of. I don’t think Haye is going to take any chances by facing a live body until he gets his title shot against IBF belt holder Anthony Joshua in the future. Fights against guys like Tony Bellew are safe fights that involve zero risk for Haye.