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Haye Knows Beating A Klitschko Is His Legacy

Published

13 years ago

March 2, 2011

HayeRuiz_Sheratt19 Please leave a note in the Forum. Anyone think Haye will NEVER fight a Klitschko? F-LO guesses Haye fights Wlad sometime in mid 2012.

According to an article in the Wakefield Press last week, WBA heavyweight title holder David Haye 25-1 (23), hinted that his fight with IBF/WBO title holder Wladimir Klitschko 55-3 (49) may be back on for this coming July in Germany, with Britain and Las Vegas also being in the running. This of course is provided that Klitschko defeats Dereck Chisora 14-0 (9) on April 30th.

Haye indicated that he'd like to fight and defeat Wladimir in July and then face and defeat Vitali Klitschko 41-2 (38) in September, and then retire at age 31. In a perfect boxing world, we'd count our blessings if Haye would fight Wladimir in July, win or lose, but just go through with the damn bout. We'll worry about how Haye would fare against Vitali once he's defeated Wladimir, if he does. As most know the talk of Haye fighting either Klitschko brother has been out there ever since Haye defeated Nikolay Valuev back in November of 2009 to capture the WBA title belt. It's also widely known that a Haye versus a Klitschko bout hasn't materialized because of the reluctance on the part of David Haye, even though Haye needs to step up and take down one of the Klitschkos before he'll be acknowledged as being a legitimate heavyweight title holder.

Neither Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko need to defeat Haye or any other heavyweight in the world in order to establish their credentials as the top two heavyweights in professional boxing. Both brothers have had a strangle-hold on the division since the day Lennox Lewis retired as champ in 2004. And the only way any heavyweight contender can lay claim as to being the heavyweight champ is by meeting and defeating one of the Klitschkos.

The more time that goes by and the more Haye talks to the media, the more he looks as if he's memorized the Floyd Mayweather playbook. And he's really memorized the chapter in which it states, be vocal and loud in the press, but become silent when it looks like the fight can become a reality, and hope for someone else to beat the biggest threat to you, or wait until they're a little older. And in all fairness, that strategy serves Haye best on two fronts. One, it builds the hype and anticipation for the fans, which no doubt will translate into a bigger purse. Two, every day that goes by, both Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko age and move further away from their physical prime.

Part two is clearly what's behind Haye's actions in as far as lobbying for a fight with one of the brothers, and then pulling something out of the air suggesting why he's being disrespected and short changed. Personally, I believe Haye harbors a bit of trepidation regarding a bout with Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko. That's not saying he fears them or isn't confident in his ability to beat them. It's more along the lines of him wanting everything in his favor on the night of the fight to further prevent something from going wrong.

Prize fighting is a business. Bernard Hopkins conducts his career from a managerial vantage point beautifully. Sure, he waits for the right time, but unlike Floyd Mayweather and David Haye, there's not one fighter anyone can ever accuse Hopkins of ducking during his prime. On the other hand, Mayweather, who I'm sure is confident he can beat Manny Pacquiao, clearly projects that losing to him is more than just a possibility. And the same mindset applies to Haye regarding Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko. Surely, he believes he'd only be one big right hand away from putting Wladimir to sleep. However, he knows there's also a realistic chance that Wladimir might put him in a deep sleep first. No doubt when he looks at Vitali, he sees what he believes is a slow awkward fighter that he could use his speed and box circles around. Yet, he surely has been around long enough to understand that Vitali's awkwardness could be his biggest nightmare and lead to him waking up after he's been counted out.

Based on Haye's remarks and tweets, it looks as if the talk of him fighting Wladimir Klitschko may be heating up soon. It'll make for great copy if it does. But I'm not buying it. And the reason for that is, I get the feeling that Haye hasn't seen quite enough erosion physically from either brother. I believe Haye will try and fuel the talk of him fighting one of the brothers for the rest of this year, and then seriously look to make a bout with either Klitschko brother in mid 2012.

One thing Haye can count on for sure is, if he does become the fighter who topples Wladimir or Vitali, that's what he'll be most remembered for. In 10 years nobody will remember that they were a little long in the tooth when he finally did it. No, they'll only remember that he was the one who halted their eight plus year dominance of boxing's glamor division.

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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Frank Lotierzo

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

8 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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