David Haye Wants JD Chapman? What Happened To Haye’s Top Opponent?

haye456345734.jpgBy Michael Lieberman: After months of hearing David Haye spout off at the mouth downgrading heavyweights as a whole, saying that he would come in and clean up the division, that he would be taking on a good top 10 fighters, we find out that he has chosen none other than unbeaten JD Chapman (29-0, 26 KOs) as the fighter he’d like to get in the ring with for his next fight on November 18th. This is a complete joke. I have nothing against Chapman, but come on, the guy has fought absolutely no one and probably doesn’t deserve to be anywhere near the top 10 in the heavyweight division.

Thankfully, Chapman looks as if he’ll save us from watching this farce of a fight, because he reportedly pulled out of the Haye fight. However, it looks as if he’ll still probably be the one that Haye fights according to Setanta Sports, in which Golden Boy Promotions Chief executive officer Richard Schaefer still feels that they’ll be able to bring Chapman back into a bout with Haye. The thought of watching Haye fight someone with an inflated record like Chapman’s is more than a little off-putting, because Haye will no doubt be hyping him and his unbeaten record, and likely try to suggest that he’s a credible opponent.

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Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson Baffled By David Haye

222.jpgWBA #7 heavyweight Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson (20-0-1, 7KO) fresh off his 5th round destruction of former heavyweight champion of the world Bruce Seldon (38-7, 34KO) was left speechless, a very uncommon occurrence for the colorful Johnson, upon hearing that fellow top 10 heavyweight contender David Haye (21- 1, 20KO) was still looking for an opponent for his heavyweight debut on November 15th.

“I don’t understand,” said a perplexed Johnson who sat shaking his head for several minutes. “This guy runs his mouth for months saying that he is going to take over the heavyweight division, that he is going to knock this guy and that guy out, but here I am stepping up to the plate, and now he doesn’t want the fight,” questioned Johnson.

“Maybe he thought I wouldn’t want the fight and he wasn’t prepared for my acceptance, but he obviously doesn’t know Kevin Johnson then. I have said since day one that I would fight anyone, anywhere, anytime. The fight with Haye would take place in his backyard, his homeland of London, and that still didn’t bother me. He knows that it wouldn’t matter if he had his entire country screaming and cheering for him because once he gets in that ring, it’s just me and him.

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Haye To Reveal His Next Opponent on Tuesday

haye68357.jpgBy Aaron Klein: According to Setanta, David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) will make his announcement of who his next opponent will be for his November 15th bout next Tuesday (September 16th). Treating it as if it’s an unveiling of a special gift, Haye is apparently going to be making the announcement at the O2 arena. So far, no hints have been given about who the opponent might be, but there have been possible leaks of information coming out with American heavyweight Kevin Johnson (20-0, 7 KOs) the one mentioned as the one who Haye has chosen.

If this turns out the case, Haye might as well have stayed and fought a cruiserweight instead of him, because Johnson has zero power to speak of and is little threat to score knockout over Haye. Of course, it’s a smart move on Haye’s part, because Johnson is ranked high at #7 in the WBA, so technically he’s a top 10 opponent, which fits Haye’s stated requirements of wanting to select a top 10 opponent. However, in my mind, I don’t see Johnson even in the top 16 of the best heavyweights in the division. He’s far, far away from number #7 and nowhere near a top 10 as far as I’m concerned, so I’m hoping this doesn’t turn out to be Haye’s opponent.

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Haye: “I Might Have To Fight Both The Klitschkos To Unify The Titles”

haye5634574.jpgBy Sean McDaniel: In a recent interview with The Sun, former cruiserweight champion David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs), getting a little ahead of himself in his future goals, commented that he may need to fight both Klitschko brothers in order to unify the titles. Apparently, Haye, 27, is going by the assumption that he’ll be defeating IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko next year when they’ll possibly be meeting. At the same time, Haye also appears to be going by the presumption that Wladimir’s brother, Vitali Klitschko, will defeat World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Samuel Peter on October 11th.

Haye’s courage and boldness is somewhat refreshing in comparison to the dull Wladimir, who has rarely brought any life to the heavyweight division since winning his IBF title in 2006, but Haye has left himself open to being badly embarrassed should he fail at his goals of winning the title. Without having yet selected an opponent for his second fight as a heavyweight on November 15th, Haye, the fighter/promoter, seems to be looking past his first real test as a heavyweight. If he carries out his promise of fighting a top 10 fighter, then he may not get past whoever he ends of fighting, much less one of the Klitschko brothers.

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Is David Haye Already More Popular Than Wladimir Klitschko?

wladimir342563.jpgBy Aaron Klein: With only one fight under his belt as a heavyweight, it seems as if former cruiserweight champion David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) is already even more popular than IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (51-3, 45 KOs), who has been off and on a title holder in the division since April 2000. Although some boxing fans may dispute this, just take a look at the articles in the media about Haye, and then take a look for any articles on Wladimir. Unless I miss my guess, you’d lucky to find one article on Wladimir, whereas Haye would have near countless articles on him and his career.

It seems more than a little strange that Wladimir, who has been considered by many to be the top heavyweight in the division for the past two years, isn’t mentioned nearly as often as Haye is in the media. This isn’t localized to just the articles in the media, it’s also repeated in the various boxing forums on the net. Haye is almost always mentioned much more than Wladimir. This seems to suggest that Wladimir isn’t being marketed correctly by his PR team, hence he needs to consider replacing them, or he’s not doing nearly as good a job marketing himself as Haye has done in the past few months.

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Rahman Not Ducking Haye

rahman5683461.jpgBy Aaron Klein: Contrary to reports about British heavyweight David Haye (21-0, 20 KOs) not having any fighters willing to fight him for his upcoming but on October 11th, former IBF/WBC heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman (45-6-2, 36 KOs) is reportedly very interested in fighting Haye, according to comments made by Rahman’s manager Steve Nelson to fightnews. Nelson recently fired back a rebuttal to Haye, who said that no one wants to fight him, remarking that Rahman does want to fight Haye, and that the two have been working on a deal for some months now, although no offers have been made by Haye’s people, according to the article by Bob Caico of fightnews.

This is interesting boxing news, because it seems to contradict the complaints made by Haye. If this turns out to be true, it would seem rather peculiar for Haye to say that there is no one willing to fight him, making one wonder why he would utter something like this unless he had an ulterior motive. Rahman, now 35, probably isn’t nearly the same fighter he was years ago when he shocked then heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis by knocking him out in the 4th in November 2001 to win the heavyweight titles, but Rahman still can punch with just about as much power as he did then.

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Is David Haye Using Names To Get Attention?

haye53546.JPGBy Chris Williams: With little experience under his belt in the heavyweight division other than a 1st round stoppage of Tomasz Bonin a year ago in April, former cruiserweight champion David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) appears to be using other fighters’ names in order to gain attention to himself and thereby raise his own status as a fighter. It’s a tried and true method used by a large number of fighters throughout boxing. However, few have been close to as successful s Haye has been, for he’s not only apparently talked himself into an inflated number #3 ranking in the World Boxing Organization and #5 ranking in the WBC, he’s done it all without beating one top 15 opponent.

At the same time, he’s criticized IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko so often that now the Ukrainian fighter is talking about fighting Haye in 2009. However, the name dropping has had an effect on many boxing fans, with many of them now sick of Haye’s act, wishing he would just shut his pie hole and finally fight someone or a change. He’s so far ruled out a high number of potential opponents for his next fight on November 11th, many of them excellent fighters like Alexander Dimitrenko, James Toney and Monte Barrett. However, Haye really needs to pipe down with all his constant chatter, and get on with proving he’s a real threat, deserving of his high ranking in the heavyweight division before criticizing other more established heavyweights.

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Will David Haye Still Be Fighting A Top Heavyweight For His Next Bout?

haye5333541.jpgBy David Lahr: With heavyweight David Haye’s recent boost to the number #3 spot in the World Boxing Organization and # 5 in the World Boxing Council rankings, is he still going to as he says fight a top heavyweight in his next fight? Something tells me that’s not in the cards anymore, because why should he? He’s already ranked high and doesn’t need to take a risky battle against one of the top heavyweights and thus ruin a potential big money bout against either IBF/WBO heavyweight champion or the winner of the WBC heavyweight contest between current champion Samuel Peter and champion emeritus Vitali Klitschko.

Indeed, Haye is in the perfect position where he can fight just about anyone and still end up facing one of the two most popular heavyweights in the division. That’s not to say that it will be personally good for him to fight a low quality fighter, since he won’t get much from fighting a scrub and will be that much over his head when he has to step in the ring with someone as big and powerful as one of the Klitschko brothers or Peter. Haye’s chin is known for being someone brittle, which puts him in kind of a predicament. If he goes ahead with his promise of fighting a top 10 heavyweight, there’s a good chance he might end up losing unless he chooses very carefully.

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Does David Haye Deserve To Be Ranked #3 In The Heavyweight Division?

haye454461.jpgBy Thomas Hanson: In somewhat of a real head scratcher, David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) has recently been pushed up to near the top of the WBO and WBC rankings, specifically to number #3 in the WBO and #5 in the WBC, all without having fought any heavyweight matches recently. I could see Haye, 27, being ranked in the bottom 15 of the heavyweight rankings because he did prove himself as a capable fighter while fighting in the cruiserweight division, but to have him vaulted all the way to near the top at number # 3 and #5, seems totally unfair to the fighters that have been standing in line all this time waiting to get a turn at one of the titles.

At the same time, it makes these ranking organizations look more than a little bad since Haye has fought only once as a heavyweight, a fight over a year ago against little-known Polish heavyweight Tomasz Bonin. Other than the fairness issue, I have no problem with Haye being ranked high in the heavyweight division, for it brings instant excitement to the division and forces the heavyweights champions, such as Wladimir Klitschko and Samuel Peter, to potentially have to deal with Haye. However, it seems kind of misguided to have Haye pushed ahead of good heavyweights like John Ruiz, Chris Arreola, Hasim Rahman, Denis Boystov and Alexander Povetkin, to name but a few, without having fought any real heavyweight competition.

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Thompson Wants Bout With Haye: “When I’m finished With Him [Haye] I Will Be The Reason He Returns his Ass To The Cruiserweight Division Where He Belongs”

haye6545561.jpgBy Jim Dower: Newcomer to the heavyweight ranks David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) has had no shortage of potential opponents since recently moving up in weight from the cruiserweight a couple of months ago. The latest heavyweight among many to call him out is none other than recent title challenger Tony Thompson (30-2, 18 KO’s), who was chopped down by IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko on July 12th, at the Color Line Arena, Altona, in Hamburg, Germany. Obviously wanting to get back on top as fast as possible, the 6’5″ Thompson seems the soft-chinned Haye was the perfect opponent to achieve his goal.

Haye, 27, has been calling out Klitschko at every opportunity in the media, while at the same time downgrading him and all the other heavyweights in the division, calling them “slow” and “fat slobs,” among other things. Klitschko, however, is tied up with a mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin for his IBF heavyweight title and doesn’t have an open date for Haye. Even if he had, though, Wladimir wants to see how Thompson does against another heavyweight, preferably a good one that will test his skills. This is exactly what Haye wants to do, commenting often that he plans on taking on a top heavyweight in the division and doesn’t want to waste time by taking on a lower ranked fighter the way that many heavyweights often do.

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