David Haye vs. Audley Harrison: Bad Blood Forms between Two Friends
David Haye and Audley Harrison are all set to meet in the ring very shortly. Their match has been a long time coming and there seems to be a lot of bad blood between the two boxers of late. This is odd because the two British boxers were good friends once upon a time and were even roommates a long time ago. It seems both these boxers’ egos have reached very high levels and it has affected their friendship. Now that a match has been scheduled, it looks like they are going to get their chance to prove to each other who the better boxer really is.
David Haye is the current WBA heavyweight champion; he defended his title against Russian Nikolai Valuev late last year. Audley Harrison, on the other hand, is an Olympic gold medal winner from 2000. He also won the gold at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. While Haye has gone onto great things in his career, Harrison had immense potential but could not seem to turn that potential into anything substantial. He moved in and out of view without too much hype and is getting close to retiring at 38 years of age. This fight gives him maybe the final chance at achieving something meaningful after his Olympic gold medal. Haye, on the other hand, has become a great boxer and has successfully defended his heavyweight belt once already. At 29, he looks to be the more in form and more physically fit boxer. Haye was a former cruiserweight champion and he won the heavyweight title last year by defeating the big Russian on points. His record is very impressive as well; he has only lost one of his 25 professional fights. But it seems this record has given him an arrogant streak.
David Haye is a very good boxer but he is not the most sensitive and good-natured man out there. He is known for running his mouth and saying things that he really should not say. He has been known for saying some really off colour things in the past. He once said that he would beat another boxer like Rodney King, he also stated that Nikolai Valuev had a stench and was a freak. He famously took a picture of himself holding the severed heads of the Klitschko brothers that appeared in a magazine and threw it at Vitali Klitschko while he was at dinner with his wife. The latest controversy he has caused was that he said his fight against Harrison would be ‘as one-sided as a gang rape’. He seems to be a slightly deranged individual or he could be doing it all for the attention and carrying on a long line of trash-talking boxers that have come before him in the past.
The other interesting thing about this fight, besides Haye being loudmouthed, is that these two boxers used to be friends at one time. They were both training partners and also roommates at one time. It seems to have all gone downhill from there and it has now come down to the two trading insults at press conferences. It could be that the two understand boxing media and the fans and want to give them a reason to come and watch the fight or it could be that the two genuinely hate each other now after so many years. This fight will be a big deal for another reason as well, because it will be the biggest all British boxer fight since 1993, when Lennox Lewis defeated Frank Bruno. Whatever happens and whoever wins, despite all that tough talk, both boxers will be rewarded very well financially. They are all set to receive heavy prize purses for the fight.
This boxing match is all set to be a great contest when it takes place. It will be great to see these two talented boxers face each other after so long. It could be Harrison’s night and he might make a name for himself after ten years or it could be the younger Haye who destroys the older boxer and pummels him into a pulp.
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