By Nicholas Sowemimo: This Saturday’s all-British WBA heavyweight championship bout between David Haye and his challenger Audley Harrison is receiving a generous amount of media attention in the home nation of both fighters. This is not in anticipation of an epic battle – Haye is a 7-to-1 on favourite and is widely expected to stop Harrison within the distance – but because of the sheer novelty of a heavyweight title fight between two British contestants.
There have also been two such encounters in the past, both involving victories for Lennox Lewis, Britain’s most recent heavyweight champion before David Haye. First, a defeat of future WBC champion Frank Bruno in 1993, and then a win over Henry Akinwande in 1997. The upcoming north v south London clash has already far exceeded the level of interest garnered by both of those fights combined, and is expected to break domestic PPV records for a boxing match. Haye and Harrison have received unprecedented exposure in the UK, making frequent appearances in mainstream media on the news, breakfast and daytime TV shows.
Though the verbal sparring of Haye and Harrison has enthralled Britain, it has received minimal attention elsewhere. The fight has struggled to secure a television deal at all with a network in the USA, let alone a valuable pay-per-view berth. This may be due to the participation of Audley Harrison, who is little known outside these shores, despite his triumph at the 2000 Olympics. However, it also elucidates David Haye’s failure to capture the sporting world’s collective imagination. This provokes the question: what would a victory for either man mean for the heavyweight division?
A contest for the oldest of the sport’s titles in its marquee division should be attracting more worldwide attention than, especially as the champion only recently dethroned a seven foot giant. Thus, one must also question how much extra attraction that the champion himself has brought to the sport. It has long been argued that the sweet science relies upon a strong heavyweight division and that the current crop of uninspiring big men has caused the sport to haemorrhage fans.
Haye, with his flashy manner, good looks and quick tongue, was supposed to remedy the public’s indifference towards heavyweight boxing. But outside of the British Isles, there is scant evidence that this has happened.
Hopes were high that the former undisputed cruiserweight champ would inject some much needed glamour and excitement to the division. Indeed, some detractors alleged that he owed his majority decision win over Nikolai Valuev in Germany a year ago to the desire of the WBA’s moneymen to have a more bankable champion. However, prior to his first defence against American veteran John Ruiz, the Bay Stater taunted Haye by stating that his fellow countrymen knew little, and cared even less, about the British fighter. Ruiz’ words were subsequently borne out, as though Haye promptly stopped the former two-time WBA champ for the first time in 14 years and forced him into retirement, the endorsements and TV deal offers were still slow to come from Stateside.
A loss to Harrison would do perhaps irreparable damage to Haye’s reputation and his hopes of becoming a global star. A win for Harrison would be a shock, but an underwhelming one. The thought of one of the top belts being held by someone so far outside the division’s top ten fighters, with losses against such luminaries as Michael Sprott, Dominick Guinn and Martin Rogan, is a dispiriting prospect indeed. Were Harrison to be successful, there is no follow-up fight for him that would be a major money-spinner – not even a unification bout against Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko.
Indeed, Harrison has already suggested that if he beats Haye on November 13, he may retire from the sport immediately afterwards. Believing that a world title victory would be sufficient to ensure that “his legacy is secured”, the north London southpaw is keen to smash and grab, cut and run out of the business. When one hears Harrison say that “being unified champion is not a goal I’ve set for myself,” one suspects that is because despite the bravado, he is well aware of his limitations and knows that a fight against either Klitschko brother would end very badly for him. If the chance does present itself, it may be preferable for all concerned if Harrison withdraws and the embarrassment is spared.
Even if Haye retains his title as expected, there are few financially attractive fights available to him. Showdowns with the WBA’s #1 ranked contender Ruslan Chagaev, or against Ring top 10 contenders such as Alexander Povetkin and Tomasz Adamek might enhance the Hayemaker’s reputation with boxing purists, but they would be of little worth in giving him the star power he so craves. It is sad to say it, but it is likely any of those respectable contests would garner fewer column inches than would a sideshow against former undisputed cruiserweight and heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield, now 48.
Mainstream interest with be piqued by nothing less than unification matches with the Klitschkos. Despite being the top two heavyweights in the world, the Ukrainian brothers are only big office stars in Germany, their adopted home of many years. Their nationality and somewhat dour personalities may be partly to blame, as might their steadfast refusal to fight one another and in the process crown an undoubted world’s greatest. It is that which provides an opportunity for Haye, who would boost his popularity and cement his legacy by breaking up the duopoly.
Arguments still rage about whether it is the fault of the Klitschkos or of Haye that no fight has yet come to fruition; Wladimir has been particularly vocal, accusing Haye of having “b***hed out” from fights with both brothers. Whatever the truth of the matter, boxing fans must hope that the fights do eventually come about. With the Mayweather-Pacquiao saga dragging on interminably, the Haye v Klitschko unification scenario represents a rare chance for the heavyweight division to steal a march on the lower weights and take back the spotlight. Anything else will keep it in the darkness as the smaller men make the big bucks.
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