David Haye will make the second defence of his WBA world heavyweight title against fellow Briton and 2000 Olympic gold medallist Audley Harrison. The pair will meet at the MEN Arena in Manchester on 13 November. It will be the biggest all-British fight for a world heavyweight title since Lennox Lewis defended his WBC crown by stopping Frank Bruno in 1993. Haye, 29, won the WBA belt by beating giant Russian Nikolay Valuev on points in Germany on 7 November 2009. The former cruiserweight king, who has lost only once in 25 professional bouts, then defended his title by stopping American John Ruiz at the MEN Arena in April. For 38-year-old Harrison, November's contest against Haye gives him the chance to fulfil his dream of winning a genuine world title. Harrison won super heavyweight gold at the Sydney Games and was tipped to become a world champion in the professional ranks. But his career failed to take off in any meaningful way and looked to be over when he suffered a shock points loss to Belfast taxi driver Martin Rogan in December 2008. The 1998 Commonwealth Games champion reignited his career by winning Prizefighter last year and then scored a 12th-round knockout against Michael Sprott to win the EBU heavyweight title in April. Haye had hoped to meet either of the Klitschko brothers, who hold the other recognised world heavyweight titles, after beating Ruiz. Haye's manager, Adam Booth, held talks earlier this year with Vitali (WBC) and Wladimir (WBO and IBF) about a possible unification fight but those negotiations foundered. A contest between Haye and fellow Londoner Harrison, who were once close friends before a public war of words last year, will have box-office appeal in Britain, with the MEN Arena virtually guaranteed to sell out.
The ****ing guy sits around on his ass since may and now he is fighitng a bum what a joke fight should of fought chagaev, solis, boystov,
Haye is the biggest disgrace in HW boxing. Happily filling into the hole left by former WBA jokes like Ruiz, Valuev and Chagaev.
I'll watch the fight as I hate Harrison and love to seem sparked by anyone, especially Haye. The problem I have is that in no way does he deserve a shot at a world title belt. He should not even be in the position where he is one lucky punch away from a title. Even though Haye is probably 95% certain to win the fight, I think he should not have his title on the line in case Harrison lets lucky!
2 Londoners fighting in Manchester. Not only do they disgrace their country but they disgrace their city too. It's a money making fight. They can go **** themselves.
This is the first time I've been disappointed with Haye with regards to his choice of opponent for an actual, confirmed fight. He's seldom taken the easy route in his career and has been a bigger risk taker than most, although much more cautious at heavyweight. I'll reserve judgment until I see his NEXT opponent. If he KOs Audley and then fights Adamek in March / April, I won't have a problem with it. Don't get me wrong, it's an awful fight but I can see the business sense, especially for someone like Haye who has only started making the big bucks in the last two years. If it sets a trend, my interest in his career will wane.
