David Haye Takes On A Goliath This Saturday
This week’s WBA World Heavyweight title fight has been an easy marketing task for the publicity men. Former cruiserweight David Haye is taking on the 7 foot 2 inches champion Nikolai Valuev- inevitably the tagline is ‘David v Goliath.’
Haye is following in a long tradition of light-heavyweights and cruiserweights stepping up to the top division but over the past twenty years the heavyweights have been getting bigger and bigger. All-time greats like Rocky Marciano and Joe Louis fought at around 15 stones but most modern era champions are well over 16 stones.
Evander Holyfield proved that it is still possible to move up successfully but much depends on whether a fighter is struggling to make the weight at cruiserweight- in that case, adding extra poundage is a natural process.
‘Pumped-up’ cruiserweights can struggle though, sacrificing natural speed for a heavier punch. Boxing’s oldest truism is that “ a good big ‘un beats a good little ‘un” and Haye is risking all that Valuev isn’t good enough.
The difference in stature between the two is more exaggerated than normal because of Valuev’s freakish size. Haye’s stated intent is to knock his opponent down, which no one has managed so far. He’s gone out of his way to be uncomplimentary to the Russian, which may not prove to be a sensible tactic.
After dominating the lower division Haye has talked a big fight since moving up to heavyweight. He riled the Klitschko brothers, the Ukrianiians who hold the other title belts, by appearing in a t-shirt with both their heads lopped off.
In June the Briton was due to fight Wladimir Klitschko but pulled out of the bout because of a back injury – some pundits concluded that Haye had decided that Valuev might be an easier route to a belt.
Haye is conceding nearly a foot in height to the WBA champion and a huge amount of reach. If Valuev catches him with a decent punch there is the prospect that the natural weight of punch will decide the contest.
Haye has noted though , that while Valuev has an impressive total of knockouts, he hasn’t stopped all his opponents. On the other hand, Haye has won twenty-one of his twenty-two victories by stopping the contest and is noted for fast hands and good skills.
Nearly all the bookmaking firms rate Haye the favourite to prevail, he’s 7/10 at PartyBets.com, despite the physical advantages he concedes to the title holder. His performances as cruiserweight champion were exciting and the boxer himself felt he struggled to make the weight.
If Haye can find the extra 20-30% of power that he feels he will come with the extra poundage, he may yet go on to his stated aim of unifying the heavyweight crown as he did as a cruiserweight.
Haye has been promising his fans and the media a knockout come Saturday night. If you believe all of the Brit’s self-perpetuated hype then a knockout or technical knockout is available at 5/2.
If you enjoyed this post then try these:
- David Haye Slays Goliath and other Weekend Glory
- Klitschko Brothers Take On Cruiserweights
- Boxing Needs a True Heavyweight Champion
- Froch Chases Superstar Status In The Super Six
- Super Six Series Is What Boxing Needs
