On the few occasions on Saturday night when David Haye actually managed to land his fists on Nikolai Valuev’s chin he was not only pulling off one of the most astonishing victories in the history of his sport, he was breathing life into the future of heavyweight boxing.
Haye, 29, from Bermondsey, is 6ft 3in and something of a midget opposite Valuev, the 7ft Russian, whom he beat on a points decision in Nuremberg to claim the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title. He was also 7st (45kg) lighter. Never has a heavyweight title been contested between two fighters of such size difference.
Their bout was billed as a modern David and Goliath contest. It helps Haye’s notoriety that he began his reign as a heavyweight champion with such a novelty act, but he should soon be attracting further attention as he pursues other heavyweight titles.
The world heavyweight title used to be one of the most respected across the world of sport. It was in the 1970s, though, that administration of boxing splintered from one organisation into competing fiefdoms. So while Haye is today the WBA heavyweight champion, there is also a World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion and an International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion too.
In fact, anyone can invent their own boxing organisation, and many have, which is why Haye said after his victory: “I’m looking forward to cleaning up the division.”
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The only way to regain the respect that the world’s most fearsome title used to command is by winning every title out there. As Haye said: “I want anyone who has got a belt.” So today he is not really heavyweight champion of the world, only a part of it. That is why the two men he now wants to fight most are the Klitschko brothers from Ukraine. Vitali Klitschko is the WBC champion and younger brother Wladimir is the IBF champion. Those are the two other most respected titles, though if Haye were to beat Wladimir he would simultaneously take his other titles — World Boxing Organisation and International Boxing Organisation heavyweight champion — too.
The two brothers have set themselves the goal of uniting the belts within the family without ever fighting over them themselves. The brothers are both bigger than Haye but they are conservative and unexciting as boxers whereas Haye is a faster, more thrilling boxer, more of a risk-taker, a gun-slinger.
Haye’s style and quality, as well as his personality, could all be good news for the increasingly discredited heavyweight division. Since Mike Tyson last had ownership of the three main belts in 1990, numerous unknown and untalented fighters have had their hands one or more of them.
It did the reputation of the heavyweight division little service when George Foreman, one of the greats of the Seventies, managed to come back to the ring in the Nineties and win one title at the age of 45. Tyson himself brought shame on the sport with his conviction for rape. Indeed Tyson had already lost his titles to James “Buster” Douglas who was happier eating in fast food restaurants than in preparing himself to be in any shape to defend his crown. He lost his very first defence.
Since Tyson, both Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield have held the three main belts, but while it has become harder and harder to work out exactly who is really the world heavyweight champion, the standard of the heavyweight division has slowly been on the decline.
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So Haye is potentially the antidote to years of decline — a heavyweight champion, at last, who looks and sounds the part.
“I said I want to be unified champion and the Klitschkos are definitely in my sights,” Haye said after the fight on Saturday.
Vitali Klitschko responded that he would fight Haye “at any time and knock him out”.
This is the kind of conversation in which competing heavyweights have long engaged. At last, though, it might mean something.
Born to fight
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? The second of three sons, Haye says: “My parents said I had the look of a boxer as soon as arrived. I had a black eye and clenched fists.”
? Grew up in an 18th-floor council flat in Long Lane, Bermondsey, where friends were “shot and killed or sent to prison”. No stranger to street fights
? Aged 10, he discovers Fitzroy Lodge boxing gym and tries on a pair of leather boxing gloves
? Married to Natasha, a friend since he was 15. They have a year-old son, Cassius, named after Cassius Clay, who changed his name to Muhammad Ali
Sources: Four Four Two interview; David Haye offical website; The Mirror