Haye Beaten to the Punch
Wladimir Klitschko Celebrates
Haye plans to retire in October when he turns 31 and knew this was his chance to not only prove himself as a heavyweight but also establish a real legacy in the division as the man to end Klitschko’s dominance.
But after talking the talk he failed to walk the walk at the soaking wet Imtech Arena football stadium, unable to back up his distasteful and aggressive bravado by instead fighting defensively and losing with scores of 117-109, 118-108 and 116-110.
Afterwards he was left to bemoan a broken toe that he said he sustained three weeks ago, claiming it afected his gameplan severely and stopped him pushing off.
The event had threatened to be a damp squib with constant rainfall leaving most of ringside soaking wet, although the downpour eased by the first bell and a canopy over the ring itself seemed to be keeping the canvas dry.
Haye, who headed into the bout with a record of 25-1 with 23 knockouts, ended over two years of waiting when he finally came face to face with Klitschko (55-3, 49KOs). After so much trash-talking and on-off negotiating, the two men were squaring off in what Haye labelled “the biggest fight in boxing” and the most high-profile heavyweight clash since Lennox Lewis beat Mike Tyson in 2002.
The unification super-fight saw 30-year-old Haye putting his WBA heavyweight title on the line in a bid to snatch his Germany-based Ukrainian opponent’s IBF, WBO and Ring magazine belts.
He did so as the clear betting underdog, conceding three inches in height, two stone in weight, years in experience and home advantage against a 35-year-old who had reigned since his last knockout defeat seven years ago.
Roared on by around 10,000 British fans among the approximately 40,000-strong crowd – who let themselves down by booing and jeering the Ukrainian national anthem.
A cagey opening saw Haye down from a slip as Klitschko jabbed from distance. Haye did well with a two-shot combination, though, landing a winging right on his opponent’s chin and following it with a left hook.
With the rain pouring once more, Haye was not bothering to jab, instead staying on the back foot and making brief but aggressive forays. Klitschko was edging it though and a right got through late in the second.
Haye remained open to the jab but had his own success with a right over the top early in the third and the same shot, doubled up, before the session ended. Klitschko fired back with Haye against the ropes.
It remained conservative fare for the most part.
The fifth was particularly laborious until a Klitschko straight right landed cleanly on Haye’s chin and the Londoner did well to swallow it and carry on, recovering admirably and landing a right of his own soon after.
Haye had boasted he could change tactics on the spur of the moment and he looked like he needed to here as a dull sixth was punctuated only by him slipping on the canvas for the fourth time in the bout.
Referee Genaro Rodriguez docked Klitschko a point for pushing Haye down in the seventh. Klitschko continued to show more attacking intent over the course of the rounds, edging the ninth as Haye relied on reflexes and right hands alone. A right from Klitschko at the end of that round seemed to hurt Haye slightly.
Haye landed a right hand in close then fell yet again in the 10th as the pair traded short rights at the bell.
When he went down again easily in the 11th, referee Rodriguez gave him a count and therefore effectively docked him a point.
Haye edged the final round as both opened up more in the final three minutes and when it went to the scorecards it was rightly Klitschko who took the win.
DAVID HAYE FACTFILE
1980: Born October 13, in Bermondsey.
2001: Reaches final of the World Amateur Championships in Belfast, losing to Cuban Odlanier Solis in the third round.
2002: Turns professional and wins first professional fight in December, beating fellow English fighter Tony Booth.
2004: September – Loses for the first time, beaten by former WBO champion Carl Thompson at Wembley Arena in an IBO cruiserweight title fight.
2005: December – Wins EBU European cruiserweight belt, beating Alexander Gurov in Bracknell.
2006: Retains European title with wins over Lasse Johansen, Ismail Abdoul and Giacobbe Fragomeni.
2007: Begins his year with a heavyweight fight at Wembley Arena, and a first-round knock-out of Poland’s Tomasz Bonin.
November – Wins WBC and WBC cruiserweight titles with victory over Jean-Marc Mormeck in France, winning by technical knock-out in the seventh round.
2008: March – Beats Welshman Enzo Maccarinelli in the second round at the O2 Arena and adds WBO title to his collection. Reveals he is to move up to heavyweight division on a permanent basis, and later gives up his cruiserweight titles.
November – Wins first fight as a full-time heavyweight, with a fifth-round TKO victory over Monte Barrett in London.
2009: June – Pulls out of planned fight with WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko due to injury.
November 7 – Takes on WBA champion Nikolai Valuev in Nuremberg and wins on points after an attritional contest, with two judges favouring Haye and another scoring the fight as a draw. Lands first world title as a heavyweight and vows to “party all night long”.
2010: April 3 -Retains WBA world heavyweight title after John Ruiz’s corner throws in the towel in the ninth round of their fight in Manchester.
November 13 – Beats Audley Harrison by third-round stoppage to retain WBA title for a second time in Manchester.
2011: July 2 – Beaten by Wladimir Klitschko on points in world heavyweight unification bout in Hamburg.
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