David Haye: The Audacity of Audacity

by Zack DiLiberto

A debate rages in cyberspace. Did David Haye duck the Klitschkos or did they duck him? And the answer is… I don’t care. Nor should you. Nor should the Brits. Why? Cuz David Haye ain’t a fighter. Period. He’s retiring in October of this year – his 31st birthday, don’t ya know. And as the audacious self-promoter asserts, the Klitschkos and the rest of the boxing world have been put on notice. He’ll only be gracing us with his presence another 8 months or so – at least his boxing presence, that is. With awe-inspiring wins over John Ruiz and Audley Harrison under his belt, “the Hayemaker” is off to conquer new horizons: modeling, acting, business, you name it. Among his towering post-pugilistic ambitions, Mr. Haye has even set his sights on becoming “the first black James Bond”. And good luck to him. Ambitions are a good thing. But in my book, a fighter fights. He has something to prove, especially if he has a Marshall half-stack for a mouth. He doesn’t proclaim his greatness, then give his two weeks’ notice before showing us just how good he is. People actually compare Haye to Ali. Stop that.

Haye has talent. No one questions this. He’s athletic. He can punch. But he’s untested. And sickeningly, given his propensity for self-aggrandizement, his dodgy heavyweight resume is apparently no accident. While the modern heavyweight landscape is often mischaracterized as “thin” and “weak”, there are many heavyweight prospects who could seriously challenge Haye: Peter, Chambers, Adamek, Arreola, Johnson, Briggs, Povetkin, to name but a few. Haye has faced none of them. But no matter. His loud disrespect of the humble and proven Klitschko brothers continues. “Without me, they have no legacy” he ranted recently. “They need me more than I need them”. Really? Wladimir Klitschko is an Olympic gold medalist. Since turning pro, he has amassed a record of 55-3, with 49 KO’s. He hasn’t lost since 2004, and later avenged that loss in dominant fashion amid a current 13 fight winning streak, 10 by KO. His opponents in that span had a combined record of 389-29-8. He’s on Ring Magazine’s Pound-for-Pound Top Ten List, an unusual feat for a heavyweight. His brother, Vitali, has an equally impressive track record. In 43 pro fights, he’s lost only twice – both times due to injury, both times in fights he was winning on all scorecards. He has never been down in his career, has never been behind past the 1st round, and has the highest-ever KO percentage among heavyweight champions. In 6 fights since returning from a 4-year layoff, his opponents had a combined record of 219-9-3. Officially, he lost a total of 1 round in that entire span. Sucks not having a legacy. Perhaps he should fight Audley Harrison.

While it’s commonplace for brash, upstart fighters to demand a shot at the top dog, David Haye’s antics are unprecedented. Unlike any boxer I can recall, Mr. Haye got into the game with an expiration date. He turns into a pumpkin this year – unkept promises not withstanding. And who does that? Who retires at 31 and thinks anyone should care? Answer: David Haye. And care they do… in Britain. He and his manager, Adam Booth, have played them loyal Brits masterfully. While berating the Klitschkos at every turn, they’ve handpicked opponents who couldn’t challenge Haye or expose his shortcomings of stamina, height, reach, size, footwork, chin. They called the Haye-Harrison debacle the “Battle of Britain” and marched off with the spoils of that “war” to the tune of millions of pounds. P.T. Barnum used to say “there’s a sucker born every minute”. Apparently, the number is higher in Britain these days. And it defies plausibility. I love the Brits, myself. Always have. Always admired their disdain for pretense. But David Haye has broken them of that good habit. He and Booth must have recognized an insatiable desire for champions in their native land. And they exploited it, seemingly with the mutual understanding that ultimately, they could never deliver on their promise to “dethrone the Klitschko robots”. Instead they orchestrated a path that would ensure they wouldn’t have to.

In the blogging era, points needn’t been proved. If something is said loud enough, long enough, preached to the right choir, from the right pulpit, there will be believers. Just “Build the field and they will come!” In Haye’s case it’s “Build the ring and they’ll come… just don’t get in it.” “I’m done with the Klitschkos”, he said recently. “I can go into my retirement with my head held high knowing I did all I could to make the fight happen”. The words of a true champion. Worthy of the proud nation that held off the Nazis.

 

Guys I didn't write it, I'm not Zack. You cant post links to rival sites, so I put the writers name so as not to confuse or mislead anyone.

Unfortunately it has.

I just thought I'd share the article, a truly top class article, sadly I didn't write it.


http://www.zackdiliberto.com/