Wladimir Klitschko added the WBA heavyweight title to his collection as he won a comfortable unanimous points decision over David Haye at the Imtech Arena, Hamburg.
On a rainy windswept night, Haye was as disappointing as the weather. He boxed the entire bout on the back foot and just did not gamble enough.
Klitschko boxed in the main within himself, landing repeatedly with the left jab and an occasional hard right. Haye made him miss a lot, but just did not throw enough punches.
It meant the bout never really came to life, but that was Haye’s fault rather than Klitschko’s. At least the Ukrainian went forward.
The three judges made Klitschko the winner by ten, eight and six rounds. Adalaide Byrd scored it 117-109, Stanley Christodolou had it 116-110 and Michael Pernick 118-108. As Gernaro Rodriguez, the referee, had deducted one point from Klitschko in the seventh round for pushing down, it meant that Pernick only given Haye one round.
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Rodriguez also gave Haye a count in the eleventh round, but it seemed to be clearly a push.
Haye got an excuse in quickly, saying he had broken a toe on his right foot in training, which prevented him from launching into punches.
It had been rumoured that he had been carrying an injury, because he had finished sparring three weeks ago, unusually early. He said he had not pulled out of the bout because of the expected derision he would have received having pulled out of a meeting with Klitschko two years ago with an injury.
“If I had pulled out it would have been me finished,” he said. “When I came into this fight I knew I would not be at my best. I couldn’t push off with my right foot. Something happened in training.”
After all the trash talk, Haye did congratulate Klitschko and paid tribute to him. “Wlad is a great fighter,” Haye said. “He was very consistent. I could not do what I wanted to do, which was really frustrating.”
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But Haye’s performance on his big night was very flat. His tactics seemed a mystery, staying on the move and only occasionally launching attacks. In some rounds he seemed to barely throw a punch at all. This was not a case of Haye going out on his shield, it was more damage limitation.
Klitschko is now WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO champion, with his brother, Vitali, holding the only belt he does not, the WBC.