David Haye and Audley Harrison pre-fight analysis
This Saturday pits heavyweight hopeful Audley Harrison against WBA titleist David Haye in what can only be called a mismatch.
Harrison recently made contender rankings after knocking out Michael Sprott with a lucky punch in the last round of a fight he was losing. Haye, on the other hand, is one of the top three heavyweights in the world, and as such, this fight really shouldn’t
be half a challenge for him.
Though this bout isn’t the mega fight many have been hoping for, it really can’t be blamed for the ills of the heavyweight division. It can only be called an effect of those ills.
The situation is as follows: realistically, there are three top heavyweights, the Klitschkos and Haye, and two of them won’t fight each other. That leaves two fights with the hopes of determining ‘the best.’ And though Haye and the Klitschkos have talked
about fighting for a year now, and most agree that Haye is genuinely ducking them, he really can’t be blamed for signing with Harrison. After all, the easier, completely unthreatening bout was there, with a substantial payday and the prospect of bigger fights
in the future. So why wouldn’t Haye sign for this?
Below Haye and the Klitschkos, we have guys like Tomasz Adamek, Alexander Povetkin, Eddie Chambers, Ruslan Chagaev, Cristobal Arreola and Odlanier Solis. Adamek is a hearted fighter with legitimate flame, but he’s soft and limited as a heavyweight. Povetkin,
the guy with the amazing Olympic record, has been M.I.A. status since he and trainer Teddy Atlas fled from a fight with Wladimir Klitschko, and it’s unclear if he has still a flame for the sport at all.
Chagaev is a respectable fighter, but he lost to Wladimir Klitschko in 2009, and has only fought once in 2010. Then you’ve got guys like Chambers, Arreola and Solis, who, while gifted, just don’t seem to be at the top of the division.
Things are somewhat different for Haye, who has shown he’s a legitimate heavyweight, if not one of the best. The problem with calling Haye the best is that, strictly speaking, he’s never fought the best, and his resume leaves a lot to be desired despite
boasting the WBA title. He’s made the most of a pretty terrible division, with keynote wins over Enzo Maccarinelli, Monte Barrett, John Ruiz, and Nikolai Valuev. You’ll notice that none of those guys made the above list of top or even hopeful heavyweights.
The truth is that in fighting Harrison, Haye is not showing himself a gambler at all. He’s taking no risks, hardly even rolling the dice, and many (rightly) don’t appreciate that. Let’s face it: Harrison has been buying time since two losses in 2005-06.
Since then he’s gone a mediocre 8-4, and has settled as a domestic British fighter as opposed to the world fighter he was once hopeful to be.
He’s got terrifying punching power, but he’s quite slow and easy to see coming. This is kind of like a Shannon Briggs conundrum. 'What’s the use of dynamite power if you can never get it off against world-class fighters?' This is what Briggs must've been
asking in his recent bout with Vitali Klitschko. Not much, is the answer.
About the only other thing Harrison may have over Haye is heart, which unfortunately doesn’t often count for much in the boxing world (see recent bout between Lucian Bute and veteran challenger Jesse Brinkley).
That said, Haye is a safe bet for this fight, and will likely topple Harrison in the later rounds, if not win by an unanimous decision.
The win won’t do much for Haye’s reputation, but what it will do is make it that much more imperative for him to fight the Klitschkos. For boxing fans that’s good news.
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