By Scott Gilfoid: I still can’t figure out how or why David Haye (22-1, 21 KOs) is getting a fight with IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (52-3, 46 KOs). As far as I can tell, Haye doesn’t belong in the same ring as Wladimir on June 20th. I could understand it if Haye had earned getting there by beating a number of top level fighters instead of just one journeyman fighter. That’s so unfair to the other top fighters in the division that are being skipped over by Wladimir in order to take on Haye.
For that reason, I think Wladimir should have both his titles stripped from him. Of course, it’s not his fault that Haye was ranked so highly – #2 in WBO, #4 in WBC, #6 in WBA and #11 in IBF – after having beaten only Monte Barrett. So, what happens if Haye gets destroyed by Wladimir in the first couple of rounds? Does Haye get another shot at a heavyweight title automatically, facing Wladimir’s older brother Vitali?
That would be something worse than unfair, although I’ve recently seen a fighter get back to back title shots (Evander Holyfield) despite being beaten in the first attempt. My hopes is that Haye isn’t given a shot at Vitali, because it’s frankly bad for boxing to have fighters get multiple shots back to back despite losses, and it’s not fair for fighters to get ranked high without having to prove themselves by working themselves up to a certain extent.
Just because Haye was a former cruiserweight champion doesn’t mean he should be vaulted to the top of the heavyweight division based on this and his loud trash talk. Even as a cruiserweight, Haye never fought what I consider to be the best fighters in the division in Tomasz Adamek, Steve Cunningham, O’Neil Bell and Guillermo Jones.
If he had been forced to fight them, I have a strong suspicion that Haye would have been knocked out each time up and wouldn’t even be considered for a fight against Wladimir. Instead, Haye’s biggest claim to fame is victories over Enzo Maccarinelli and Jean Marc Mormeck, neither of which I consider to be the cream of the crop in the cruiserweight division.
So where does Haye go after he loses to Wladimir? Unless I miss my guess, he’ll probably be rewarding with a fighting against Wladimir’s brother Vitali – that’s really fair, huh? Just thinking about it makes me ill, because Haye shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near Vitali in that case unless he’s trying to get his autograph.
Getting beaten around the ring by Wladimir, which is likely to be the case when Haye fights him, it should mean that Haye is planted at the bottom of the top 15, where he should be expected to face a couple of good fighters – not journeyman – and earn his way back to a title shot in a year or two.
Let him fight Samuel Peter and Lamon Brewster in back to back fights, and if his head is still planted on his shoulders after those fights, then, yes, let him get a shot at someone like Vitali. I would have no problem seeing Haye face Vitali under those circumstances, but then again, I couldn’t see Haye beating either Brewster or in particular Peter. Both would be a nightmare matchup for Haye, and for that reason, I doubt he would ever even contemplate fighting them.
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