By Sean McDaniel: Promoter Frank Maloney thinks that World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight champion David Haye (24-1, 22 KO’s) needs to be more visible now that he’s won the heavyweight title and defended it once. In an article at Sportinglife.com, Maloney says “If I was still representing David, being a young fighter, I would have cashed in a bit quicker and made him busier…Sometimes when you stay out of sight, you get forgotten a bit….But its about staying in the public eye. If I was David, I’d be banging the drum and making sure I was in the papers for the right reasons.”

Maloney is right. Haye has, for the first time in memory, almost completely disappeared since defeating John Ruiz by a 9th round stoppage in Haye’s first defense of his WBA title on April 3rd. Rather than revel in the impressive win, Haye has disappeared like a hermit and hasn’t said more than a word or two since that time. Even his trainer/manager Adam Booth has been strangely silent, and he’s often as good a talker as Haye is in the media.

For some reason, both Haye and Booth have stopped talking and you have to wonder why. It doesn’t look in my view that Haye isn’t out there explaining to the media his reasons why his fight with IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko didn’t take place.

With Haye and Booth saying nothing, fans are left to guess that Haye was afraid to take the fight and that he might want to milk his WBA title for awhile before facing the Klitschko brothers at some later point in his career. Wladimir Klitschko, who in the past refrained from talking in the media about his opponents, even put together a video several months ago calling Haye out.

The old Haye would have been all over that, likely ridiculing Wladimir from head to toe. However, Haye didn’t say one word and that’s not a good thing, not for boxing. You’re expected to respond because fans are younger and they naturally assume that the fighter that fails to fight back is afraid. Once they think that, they start to lose respect. Haye, if for no other reason than to keep his fans on his side, needs to at least call somebody out or talk some trash about Wladimir to make people realize he’s still alive and hasn’t fallen off the side of the earth.

Boxing is part show business, and that’s one part of Haye’s game where he is head and shoulders above both of the Klitschko brothers. He may or may not be on their level due to his lack of size and experience, but Haye is a much better talker and fast with the witty responses.

If Haye wants to guarantee his next fight is successful, he needs to come out of hiding soon an start showing people he’s alive by being like his old self and talking trash. At the very least, he needs to indicate to his loyal fans who he’s thinking about fighting next. When you’re the heavyweight champion there’s a lot of responsibility in terms of public relations. I think Haye isn’t doing much to keep up that end of being a champion. There’s been hardly and interview from him since he defeated Ruiz, and he seems so meek now. It’s totally unlike Haye.