David Haye
David Haye: From Unified Cruiserweight Champion to Heavyweight Champion
The 29 year-old, 6’3” Haye is one of the bright spots on an otherwise drab heavyweight landscape. Fans are hoping his hard-hitting style adds some much-needed excitement to boxing’s glamour division.
Amateur Career
Haye was a successful amateur, highlighted by a silver medal in the 2001 World Championships, where he was defeated in the finals by current heavyweight contender Odlanier Solis.
Early Professional Career
Turning pro in 2002, Haye sprinted out to a 9-0 (9) record, including wins for the British Cruiserweight Title and a step-up stoppage over former titlist Arthur Williams before facing Carl Thompson in September ‘04. Haye was already being regarded as a potential future star. He battered the 40-year old for several rounds, but the ultra-hard Thompson didn’t fold, and dispatched of an exhausted Haye in the fifth round. It is still Haye’s only loss, and while perhaps troubling, has appeared to serve as an educational experience for the “Hayemaker.”
Cruiserweight Title Run
Haye returned to the ring three months after the Thompson loss, and began a reign of terror against the best cruiserweights in Europe. Scoring one resounding knockout after the other, he won the European title with a 45-second win over Alexander Gurov. Following three defenses and a heavyweight cameo, he set his sights on world honors.
World Cruiserweight Championship
In November of ’07, Haye challenged unified Cruiserweight Champion Jean-Marc Mormeck of France. On Mormeck’s home-court, Haye rose from a 4th round knockdown to blast the defending champion out in the seventh round of an exciting slugfest. Haye then consolidated his world title claims with an emphatic second-round thumping of WBO champion Enzo Maccarinelli four months later. With his body of work, particularly in unifying the titles, Haye stands out as perhaps the finest cruiser since Evander Holyfield was at this weight wreaking havoc in the 1980’s.
Move To Heavyweight
Haye had long complained of cutting weight to get down to Cruiserweight. Even before the Maccarinelli fight, he announced it would be his last at that weight. He began his assault on the big boys in November ’08 with a fifth round stoppage of former contender Monte Barrett. This would be his only fight for 20 months.
Haye twice had fights with both Klitschko brothers fall through. An injury forced him to pull out of an eagerly anticipated match with Wladamir. Then a bout with Vitali that seemed on tap just fell apart. He settled for WBA titlist, Nikolay Valuev.
New WBA Heavyweight Champion
On November 7, 2009, Haye won a majority decision over Valuev to become WBA Heavyweight Champion. The fight was a measured one, with Haye understandably leery of a man who outweighed him by 99 pounds. While hardly inspiring, it proved effective enough.
Many have criticized this performance. This is understandable due to Haye’s bombastic claims of being the savior of the division; the man who will spare us of the boredom that characterizes the Klitschko brothers. Those remarks are not very consistent with his performance where he shockingly threw 12 punches a round, didn’t pounce on a very wobbly Valuev in the 12th, and seemed to just be content to leave his fate in the hands of the judges.
Others rightfully point to the fact that Valuev, at 7 feet and 320 pounds, is a difficult proposition for any heavyweight. None of his opponents have managed to look good against him. We should give Haye the benefit of the doubt and wait for him to fight some more conventionally sized heavyweights before criticizing him too harshly for the Valuev performance. The idea against a fighter like Valuev is not so much to look good, but to get the win and move on. Haye is now ready to do that.
Looking Into The Future
Haye now has a chance to make history. In order to that, he will need to beat a Klitschko, particularly Wladamir. In the meanwhile, he can pursue other meaningful fights, perhaps against Eddie Chambers, Tomasz Adamek, and former amateur rival Odlanier Solis.
Look for him to defend early next year against former champion John Ruiz in England with a Valuev rematch to follow.
Written by: Scott Levinson
