By Tony Singleton: The health of boxing, so they say, is comparative to the state of the Heavyweight division. If this is the case then boxing should have been on the ropes for the past year. Instead we’ve had some incredible fights such as Khan v Maidana, Marquez v Katsidis, Lopez v Marquez and Haye v Harrison (just checking you’re taking notice!) and some outstanding performances from Pacquiao and Mayweather.
The problem is, however fantastic the other weight divisions are, it’s the heavyweight division that makes the casual fan sit up and take notice and generates the most media interest. Just look at the frenzy surrounding the build up to Haye v Harrison and the anger that followed Audley’s abject failure.
In comparison Wladimir Klitschko’s year has been fairly quiet with competent but mind numbingly boring performances against Eddie Chambers and Samuel Peter. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate Wladimir’s skills, physical attributes and professionalism and it’s not his fault that the list of viable contenders is so poor. It’s just that I like my champions to have a bit more bite. Even Lennox Lewis, who was often criticized for being too safety first, produced the odd blistering performance such as his annihilation of Michael Grant and Andrew Golota.
Haye is the polar opposite to Wladimir. He’s cocky, confident and not afraid to take risks. He’s talked the talk and walked the walk. He said he’d learn from his loss to Carl Thompson, he did. He said he’d become Cruiserweight Champion of the World, he did. He said he’d destroy Enzo Maccarinelli, he did. He said he’d become Heavyweight Champion of the World, He did. He says he’ll knock out Wladimir, he will.
Styles make fights and Haye has the style to make Wladimir fight at a pace he’s not used to. If you give Wladimir time to think and to get his robotic jab working in rhythm then you’ve already lost. Haye will have to use his speed to get inside and bang away at Wladimir, make him cautious to throw anything in case he gets nailed. The difference with Haye and Wladmir’s previous opponents is Haye is a born fighter with innate aggression whose biggest attribute is speed. The speed that he’s brought up from the Cruiserweight division and that he used so effectively against Valuev.
Most important of all is the psychological battle that Haye has been waging for the last 12 months. Never before has anyone got under Wladimir’s skin and angered him the way Haye has. It could be that come fight time, which seems to be sometime in the spring, Wladimir could be drawn into fighting the wrong type of fight and lose to the man he hates the most. Which is why 2011 will be the year of David Haye.
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