By John F. McKenna (McJack): In an effort to further Hype his fight with Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) has announced that he will make his fight with Klitschko a tribute to the late British Heavyweight Sir Henry Cooper who passed away on May 1, 2011.

Cooper was repulsed by the hype and trash talk that is so prevalent with modern heavyweights and the “Hayemaker” in particular. As offensive as Haye’s effort to use Cooper’s memory to hype the Klitschko fight is, it does not come close to the trash talk he unleashed in the lead up to Haye’s fight with Audley Harrison in 2010. In what may have been a new low for trash talk, Haye said that Harrison would be like the victim of a gang rape when he was done with him. David Haye now wants to make his fight with Wladimir Klitschko a tribute to Cooper? David Haye and Sir Henry Cooper are at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to conduct both inside and outside of the ring.

Even when Haye was making the announcement that he wanted to pay tribute to Cooper he gave him what is referred to as a “left handed compliment.” He could not resist the temptation to remind the British fans something that they already knew. Henry Cooper never won the world Heavyweight Title. No David, he never won the World Heavyweight Ttile, but he did do something even more prestigious in the eyes of the world. He was Knighted by the British Monarchy for his charity work.

At the past two press conferences Haye has refused “Dr. Steelhammer’s” offer to shake hand. Must be something Wlad said to David that really ticked him off. Or could it be that Klitschko has turned the needle around that Haye has been sticking him with for the past couple of years and is now giving David a taste of his own medicine? Haye has appeared quite uncomfortable and agitated in the past couple of press conferences with Vlad. He is used to dominating these events. In 2009 Haye showed up at a press conference with Klitschko wearing a tee shirt depicting the severed heads of the Klitschko brothers with their headless corpses on the floor, blood gushing everywhere.

The folly of not fighting legitimate contenders is going to haunt the “Hayemaker” when he steps into the ring with Wladimir Klitschko. Forget all the hype, forget all the trash talking that has been going on in the past and will only heighten as the time for the fight draws near. Haye’s opponents since he moved up to the heavyweight division have not been a real threat to him. The aging Monte Barrett had not been impressive in a long time and was at the stage of his career where he was losing every other fight. Nikolai Valuev had an inability to throw any meaningful punches accompanied by an almost total immobility. John Ruiz had been looking bad for a number of years prior to his fight with David Haye. Then there was the farce that was Audley Harrison.

David Haye has managed to trash talk his way into a Mega Bucks fight on HBO with Wladimir Klitschko for a title unification fight for the Heavyweight Championship of the World. Wladimir Klitschko, for whatever people say about him, is on the threshold of scoring his 50th KO in a division that he has dominated for several years. Since taking on Emanuel Steward as his trainer “Dr. Steelhammer” has put away the ghosts of the three knockout defeats he suffered earlier in his career. Klitschko has matured into a dominating Heavyweight Champions with one of the most potent and powerful left jabs ever seen by any Heavyweight Champion. In addition Klitschko has the capability of knocking out any fighter with either his left or right hand. With the lack of really good opposition that David Haye has faced since moving up the heavyweight division it is going to be a very big mountain that he will be climbing when he faces off against Wladimir Klitschko.