Haye: “It’s [Chisora-Klitschko] not a big fight in terms of numbers”

By Boxing News - 10/18/2010 - Comments

By William Mackay: WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (24-1, 22 KO’s) doesn’t see the point in IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko’s decision to fight the obscure British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion Derek Chisora (14-0, 9 KO’s) next on December 11th. Haye, speaking to the Mirror.co.uk, said “For Wladimir to fight Chisora, people will ask ‘is this a joke?’ It’s not a fight fight in terms of numbers and I’m not sure how many will want to see it.” Well, Haye is right about that, but he seems to be obvious as the why Wladimir has selected Chisora to fight.

Wladimir chose Chisora to fight because he sees him as the second best heavyweight in the UK behind Haye, and Wladimir wants to get more visibility in the UK by destroying one of their best heavyweights. At the same time, Klitschko has selected Chisora as an opponent to beat Haye to the punch so that he doesn’t decide to fight another British heavyweight after he finishes with Audley Harrison next month on November 13th. By knocking out and punishing Chisora badly, in the same way that Vitali Klitschko beat up Shannon Briggs, it would keep Haye from turning around and selecting Chisora to fight after the Harrison fight is over with. Wladimir is under the impression that Haye is afraid of him and just looking to milk his heavyweight title over and over again without stop.

Haye defends his choice of picking Harrison as an opponent, saying “He called me and Audley a joke but he was the European champion and this is the biggest all British clash since Lennox Lewis and [Frank] Bruno in 1993.” The Haye-Harrison fight pales in comparison to that one. Lewis was a huge heavyweight, and a lot better than the 6’2″ Haye, and Bruno was clearly a level above Harrison in talent. There’s no comparison between those two fights. Wladimir was the EBU heavyweight champion briefly when he was 23, but Haye was the British champion at the same age. The last time I checked, the European level is above the British champion. Fighters usually go from British to EBU as a step up, so that puts Wladimir ahead of Haye at the same age. Of course, Wladimir won a Gold Medal in the 1996 Olympics. Haye won the Silver Medalist at the 2001 World Championships.



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