Haye TKOs Harrison in 3 in British Title Showdown:
After weeks of trash talk from both camps, David Haye was the only one who did any talking in the ring, as he TKO’d Audley Harrison in just three rounds to retain his portion of the heavyweight title, and move closer to a title showdown with one of the Klitschko brothers. The bout didn’t see much action until Haye began to open up, and apparently, there’s a perfectly good, trash-talking reason why, too. That is, of course, if you ask David Haye and his camp.
There was absolutely no nice words exchanged in the buildup to this bout between former friends and sparring partners. Both men promised to unleash their assault on the other and move forward to becoming one of the best heavyweights in the world, with showdowns against the elite in the division. After stopping Harrison in three rounds though, Haye wasn’t done talking. He said his friends and team had made bets on a third round stoppage, which is why he prolonged the action, and lack thereof, until the third. He said he could have stopped Harrison at anytime, and honestly, judging from both of their performances in the bout, that looked at least partially accurate.
The first round was met with boos, as neither man was willing to exchange much. Haye began to throw more in the second, and then in the third he turned it on. He sent Harrison down to the canvas, and Harrison was able to get back up, but wasn’t able to escape the barrage of punches that followed, as Haye turned into seek and destroy mode and kept on throwing until the referee wisely halted the action. Official time of the contest was 1:53 of the 3rd round, and Haye improves to 25-1 with 23 KOs, while Harrison drops to 27-5 with 20 KOs.
As for that fight with the Klitschkos? Haye promised that he would fight one of the Klitschkos in 2011. Whether or not that’s more hyperbole and talk from a man who perhaps does that better than anything else, is of course yet to be determined. Either way, an emphatic win in a rivalry bout, and the kind of performance Haye needed in order to keep some buzz around his heavyweight career alive.
