I will knock him out, said David Haye, the greatest salesperson of his day
Someone should take a poll. Which was more embarrassing? Haye’s canvas diving throughout the fight, seeing his pinkie go up after the final bell as if he had just won or his blaming the loss on a sore toe? The one thing Haye did do well? He had his people negotiate a 50-50 split of the $30+ million dollar purse. And, do you believe this? According to the bookies in the United Kingdom, Haye was the favorite to win this match. Those types of results can only come from a great sales person.
On occasion Wladimir Klitschko of the Ukraine would shove David Haye of England to the canvas and other times Haye would fall on his own accord. Photo: Scott Heavey/Getty Images
Well, all that’s ancient history now that Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KOs) scored a one-sided twelve round unanimous decision victory over the overly cautious WBA champ David Haye (25-2, 23 KOs) on Saturday night at the Imtech Arena in Hamburg, Germany.
The most stouthearted at this affair were the fans who braved the inclement weather at the outdoor stadium. By showtime it was raining and 55 degrees.
As of this date, the Klitschko family now owns the heavyweight division. Who’s kidding who? They have owned it for over a decade. Every alphabet organization has them on the top of their leader board, from the IBF, the WBO, the IBO, the WBA, the WBC and even NBC.
Unlike other fights, there’s no need for the regular round by round recap. There isn’t much to tell. Before the ninth round, Haye, who at times went willy nilly after Klitschko, landed on his posterior seven times, all slips. On one occasion Klitschko had a point deducted for manhandling Haye and on another occasion, the fall was considered a knockdown.
Haye threw a few punches but only a rare few. It was as if he was shadowboxing. Klitschko on the other hand landed some clean shots. His powerful jabs won him more than a few rounds. To be kind, let’s just say Haye stayed mostly on the outside and on a rare occasion jumped in for a single blow. It was Klitschko who pressed the action throughout and was the busier fighter.
David Haye (L) had his opportunities to do some damage but he never capitalized on those opportunities. Photo: Scott Heavey/Getty Images
In the end, the scores read 117-109, 118-108, and from Stanley Christodoulou, the judge who kept nodding off, he scored the bout 116-110.
After the fight, Haye spoke with Larry Merchant and attributed his poor performance to a sore toe that prevented him from being more aggressive. He said the injury took place in training three weeks ago and he and his people decided to tell no one for fear the fight would be cancelled or maybe he was afraid the betting line might change. As I mentioned previously, the Bookies in the U. K. had Haye as the betting favorite.
What I’d like to see is a rebroadcast of the fight with the two boxers sitting on either side of Larry Merchant listening to his commentary. Merchant was at his critical best when unloading the following remarks: (Round 4) “From Haye, we’re getting a lot of ducking, no real action. (Round 6) Another round with a total of two punches. (Round 7) To win you have to throw a punch. (Round 8) He’s (Haye) wasting my time right now. Wake me when the fight starts.”
Kept under wraps for three weeks and given the highest security classification, David Haye’s sore toe was finally exposed. Here we see Haye positioning his cell phone close to the injured toe so it (the toe?) might answer the skeptics. Photo: Scott Heavey/Getty Images
