By Scott Gilfoid: Former cruiserweight champion David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) will be making his first and most crucial step this Saturday against contender Monte Barrett (34-6, 20 KOs) in a 10-round bout at the O2 Arena (Millenium Dome), Greenwich, in London.
Haye, 28, has set out what may ultimately impossible goal of winning the International Boxing Federation/World Boxing Federation heavyweight title in 2009 in a fight against current champion Wladimir Klitschko.
However, in his rush to challenge for the title, Haye appears to be in too much of a rush to do the heavy work involved with preparing for a title shot against as hard a hitter as Wladimir. Barrett, 37, a good fighter with decent power, may not be enough of a test for Haye to ready him for a fighter as powerful and large as Wladimir. To be sure, if Barrett lands a good right hand, he has a chance of taking out Haye with a single shot. However, he’s still probably going to be in over his head against Haye and will likely get powered out of there in a few rounds or less.
Haye, though, has to be very careful with Barrett, because this is going to be Monte’s big chance and he’ll probably be super hyped up, hoping he can land a big home run shot on Haye’s legendary china chin and take him out. Minus a knockout victory for Haye, I doubt that he has enough chin or legs to stay on his feet long enough to win a 10-round decision against Barrett. In a stand up fight, Haye can’t contend with a fighter in Barrett’s class.
Haye is a good cruiserweight, but his chin was shaky even at that weight class, but against a good hitter like Barrett, who is probably a consistently much harder and faster puncher than anyone he’s faced before, Haye will be in constant danger of being taken out. If Haye plays it cautious with Barrett, I see the American winning the fight, because Haye’s only real chance at winning is if he comes at Barrett hard from the beginning and drops him before he’s warmed up.
Barrett has shown to be a slow starter in the past, and now that he’s aged more, it’s not likely improved. But let’s say for a moment that Haye does come after Barrett from the start looking for a knockout, this too may play into Monte’s hands, for he has a wicked right hand, a sneaky left hook and the hand speed to land his shots in between Haye’s big power shots.
In the video I’ve seen of Haye, his hand speed has dropped off significantly since putting on thirty pounds to move up to the cruiserweight division. His power still appears to be there, however, but his speed looks more like an average heavyweight and nothing particularly special about him. In reality, Haye may be a damaged fighter much in the same way that Roy Jones Jr. was when he took off a lot of weight to drop down from heavyweight to fight in the light heavyweight division.
Fighters can equally be harmed in reverse. That is, when putting on 20-30 pounds like Haye has done for this fight, it can have a huge effect on their performance. Not only will Haye’s speed be much slower, but perhaps more importantly, his stamina will likely be greatly diminished.
If Barrett can take Haye into the deep water, he may be able to drown him with power shots as he tires out from having to carry all that extra weight on his smaller frame. After all, Haye is not true heavyweight, and will be really extending himself by fighting over his natural 200 pound fighting weight.
Comments are closed.