Is Haye Ready For Barrett?

By Boxing News - 11/08/2008 - Comments

Image: Is Haye Ready For Barrett?By Scott Gilfoid: If this were a bodybuilding contest, former cruiserweight champion David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) would win hands down over heavyweight contender Monte Barrett (34-6, 20 KOs). However, this is going to be an actual heavyweight bout in which punches will be thrown with knockout intentions, and that’s where things get a lot more dicey for the soft-chinned Haye.

Ranked high already in the heavyweight division despite having fought only once previously against a C-class heavyweight, Haye has had a lofty ranked of number #3 in the WBO and #4 in the WBC bestowed upon him, all without having fought one good heavyweight. While it may seem wrong to most boxing purists who see it as unfair, it’s actually done all the time in the sport. However, it remains to be seen whether it will come back to haunt Haye on November 15th when he steps foot into the O2 Arena (Millennium Dome) arena against Barrett.

Haye, 28, has had major problems going up against big hitters in the cruiserweight division, getting stopped by Carl Thompson in a 5th round stoppage in 2004, and knocked down by Lolenga Mock and Jean Marc Mormeck. Barrett, 37, hits as hard as any of them and if Haye puts his fragile jaw within punching range of Barrett’s fists, we may be seeing a huge setback for the Hayemaker.

However, Haye has just as much a chance to score a knockout as Barrett if he can get to him first. However, short of an all out attack by Haye, I think Barrett may end up taking this fight from him, and thus removing any chances that Haye has of a potential 2009 showdown against WBO/IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.

Since moving up to the heavyweight division recently, Haye has been nearly obsessed with a title match against the younger Klitschko brother. That’s understandable because Wladimir is perceived to be the top heavyweight in the division as of now, and it makes sense that Haye would want to fight him.

However, with Vitali Klitschko’s recent defeat of Samuel Peter to win the WBC heavyweight title, Haye is also now interested in fighting him as well. This seems to have had the effect of making Haye look a little off kilter to some people, because he has yet to even defeat Barrett, yet he’s looking far ahead to much bigger punchers.

It seems as if he has too much ambition for his own good, and it may end up biting him in the backside if he is tripped up by Barrett or taken out by one of the Klitschko brothers. Before setting his sights on Barrett, Haye had promised to fight a big named, highly ranked fighter in the heavyweight division.

For many people, they naturally assumed that meant someone better than Barrett, fighters like Hasim Rahman, Chris Arreola, Alexander Dimitrenko or Oleg Maskaev. However, it seems as if Haye downsized his opponent dramatically by selecting Barrett, who has lost three out of his last six fights. Nevertheless, he’s good enough opponent for me, because my fear is that if Haye had chosen a little better than Barrett, there would be little chance of him being around to take on Wladimir in 2009.



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