What are the chances that Haye fights another old guy next?

By Boxing News - 04/05/2010 - Comments

Image: What are the chances that Haye fights another old guy next?By Scott Gilfoid: I don’t know if anyone has noticed but WBA heavyweight champion David Haye has been fighting pretty much old guys since moving up to the heavyweight division in 2008. Let’s look at who Haye has faced since moving up in weight: Monte Barrett, 38, Nikolay Valuev, 36, John Ruiz, 38, and Tomasz Bonin, 33. Okay, apart from Ruiz, who Haye had no choice but to fight because he was his mandatory, Haye still has gone after a lot of old guys. Why is Haye being steered towards older fighters? As another writer pointed out, this a lot like how Amir Khan has been steered towards old toothless lions rather than ones with teeth and claws like Marcos Maidana.

Maybe it’s just accidental that Haye is being fed old guys. Do you think? What are the chances of that happening. Valuev, 36, Ruiz, 38, and Barrett, 38. Do you think maybe Haye could have been matched against some younger fighters like Alexander Povetkin, 30, Samuel Peter, 29, Chris Arreola, 29, Denis Boytsov, 24 or Odlanier Solis, 29.

If Haye was to be matched up with an old guy, at least put him with one that can still fight like 38-year-old Tony Thompson. At 6’5”, the southpaw Thompson would be more than a handful for Haye to deal with. I wouldn’t have minded seeing that fight, but I much prefer Haye fight guys in his own age group instead of being matched consistently with old fighters nearing 40.

Based on how Haye has been matched consistently with older fighters since he moved up to heavyweight, I wonder if this by design? And what’s weird is how Haye’s fans are crowing with pleasure after Haye’s 9th round TKO win over the 38-year-old Ruiz last weekend. What do you expect when you pick out an old guy to fight like Ruiz. If Haye can’t beat an old guy like him, then he really does need to move back down to the cruiserweight division.

But give some of the younger guys a chance, will you? There’s nothing wrong with fighting a young fighter every once in awhile. At least boxing fans will be able to see if Haye can beat a guy in his own age group or younger instead of all these old dudes. Haye is probably going to be facing the 36-year-old Valuev next instead of going Wladimir Klitschko. That is so disappointing to even think about.

Haye can always pay Valuev a step aside fee and then fight the younger Klitschko. But the longer Haye waits on this, the older Wladimir is getting. He’s 34 now, and I hope he doesn’t have to wait until he’s 35 before he finally gets a chance to fight Haye.



Comments are closed.