HEY, HAYE: APOLOGIZE, OR WE WON'T COVER YOUR FIGHT

Hes not within sniffing distance of top pound for pounder Floyd Mayweather, but heavyweight David Haye titlist has Money beat in one department: the ability to insert both feet in his mouth.

At a press conference on Tuesday to hype his Nov. 13 defense against Audley Harrison (27-4 with 20 KOs), a fellow Brit, Haye out-Floyded Floyd when he said to a group of reporters during a roundtable that his fight with the 38-year-old Harrison would be as one-sided as a gang rape.

Coming the week after Mayweather used his worst judgement by referring to Manny Pacquiao in racist and bigoted ways, Hayes wording is particularly shocking. Or maybe not…maybe he saw the hubbub that the Floyd Ustream rant caused, and fearing that tickets sales against the fighter nicknamed Fraudley would be anemic, the 29-year-old WBA champ figured hed go the same classless route as Mayweather.

Haye (24-1, 22 KOs) didnt follow Floyds lead, when he refused to apologize for a jab that makes one realize that 1) he apparently has never had to see firsthand the damage that rape can do to a psyche and 2) he lacks empathy in a big way, because one shouldnt have to see the pain rape causes to steer clear of using such flippant langauge.

On his Twitter page, he said: If I apologised for every stupid/ignorant thing i said, I wouldnt have time for anything else during the day!

TSS is taking a stand: unless Haye apologizes for his wording, we hereby promise to not cover the Harrison defense, before during or after the bout. He looked like a reluctant warrior in taking the title from Nikolay Valuev last November, has ducked the Klitschkos like Paris Hilton trying to slip a coke charge…but maybe theres a chance he will at least show some stones in this situation, and man up, admit what he said was beyond tasteless, and needs to be retracted, ASAP.

TO READERS Many of you have written and wondered why we are taking a stand on the Haye matter, and not against Floyd Mayweather, for instance, or Mike Tyson. To me, this matter is personal. An incidence of rape hurt my family. Maybe that makes me more sensitive, or what some may term overly sensitive, to the subject. So be it. I understand those that cry foul, that we are being too PC. Hey..Im of Irish descent, and it doesnt bother me if people make boozing jokes about the Irish. I dont take it personally. Indeed, I think we can be a thin skinned people. But a joke about rape…cmon. Theres no wiggle room here. As to the matter of Mayweather, you all have a point. I have to pick and choose my stands. If we dont cover Floyd, the top or second best boxer in the world, wed have to shut down. And then we wont have this venue, this platform, to exchange ideas. Free speech allows Haye to make a beyond tasteless comment, without being tossed in jail for violating community standards. And free speech allows me to say that we wont be party to Haye or his tactics in hyping his fight if we think he crosses a line. Freedom of choice also means any reader is free to find another website to read about boxing, and related matters, if they dont care for our policies, or my taking a stand on a matter that is personal to me. Some argue that boxing is boxing, the red light district of sports. Are we to surrender our morals because the fight game is populated with some rough characters, who use salty language? Or should we try and maintain some dignity, and call foul when we see someone besmirching the sport, and the 99% of classy practioners who dont resort to disgusting cracks to sell tickets? You know my stance. Thanks, Editor Mike