Wladimir Klitschko had every right to feel vindicated. But the point he proved had not been to David Haye, it had been to all those who had doubted him.
Klitschko brushed aside Haye with minimum fuss. In doing so he showed himself to be physically blessed. Sharp, with excellent footwork and a fine tactical brain, he is rightfully the best heavyweight in the world and would have been good in any era.
Yet he was the man who seemed to have it all, only to lose it. Now he sits in his rightful place as world heavyweight champion.
“In 2004 I was on the floor after losing two fights in a row, I was a broken man,” Klitschko said. “All these years I was fighting and believed in myself. This was my payback. I want to say to my critics, ‘Eat your words.’
“That people don’t believe in me is great to keep motivation over the years. It’s a long way to becoming a champion, it takes one step for a champion to become nothing and that’s what I experienced.”
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The rain that drenched the crowd at the Imtech Arena was not the only dampener — Haye had looked a defeated man very quickly. The effect of his bad toe will be argued, but once the tactics were not working — he hoped to dive in with two waves of attacks at a time, the second wave hopefully landing — there was nothing else.
Plan B seemed to involve the hope that Klitschko would wander forward with reckless abandon on to a big punch. Haye looked negative, ran and were it not for his brash pre-bout boasts, he would be excused as a boxer trying for damage limitation.
Klitschko’s habit of wearing down opponents by leaning on them is well known, but Haye was on the floor with such regularity that it became embarrassing. He also frequently complained to Genaro Rodriguez, the referee. The cries of Haye’s sodden fans became more desperate. From “knock him out”, they went to “try, David”.
“It was the same as Sultan Ibragimov [the Russian he beat easily to unify the WBO and IBF titles in New York in 2008],” Klitschko said to Haye. “He was supposed to be aggressive and knock me out. But it was the same strategy. You were very cautious.”
Klitschko was deducted a point in the seventh for pulling down in the clinch, although the knockdown that Rodriguez counted against Haye in the eleventh, which was a foul, made up for that. The judges made Klitschko the winner by ten, eight and six rounds.
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Should Alexander Povetkin, the 2004 Olympic super-heavyweight champion, beat Ruslan Chagaev, a bout that the WBA has nominally made for its vacant title — the WBA has a ridiculous rule that classifies all their champions holding other belts as “super” champions, freeing up titles others can box for — maybe he could emerge as a legitimate contender.
Suitable ones are in short supply, although Klitschko’s twice postponed defence against Dereck Chisora, the British and Commonwealth champion, could be revived and would have added interest should Chisora beat Tyson Fury at Wembley Arena on July 23. A win for Fury could land him a shot.
The only portion of the division that Klitschko does not own is the WBC title owned by his older brother, Vitali. At 39, Vitali — who faces Tomasz Adamek, a former world champion at light-heavyweight and cruiserweight, on September 10 — is likely to have only two or three bouts left. Wladimir could then beat whoever replaces him, giving him every belt.
This is the Klitschko era. That will not change soon.
Lack of punch
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• The lack of output by David Haye, as he went down to the second defeat of his career, was made all too clear by the punch statistics. Haye landed 72 of 290 punches, only two per minute of the bout, according to the statistics by CompuBox for American television. Wladimir Klitschko landed 134 of the 509 punches he threw, a success rate of 26 per cent.
• Of the judges, Adalaide Byrd scored it 117-109, Stanley Christodolou had it 116-110 and Michael Pernick 118-108. That means that Pernick gave Haye only one round and Byrd two, because Genaro Rodriguez, the referee, deducted a point from Klitschko in the seventh round.
• Ladbrokes rate Haye as a 4-1 shot to secure a rematch with Klitschko this year and 14-1 to win it. They offer 2-1 that Haye will box Vitali Klitschko this year and 9-1 that he wins.