Is David Haye more interested in cash than belts?
Mass disappointment for boxing fans everywhere as it emerges that the reason why we won’t be getting a David Haye v Wladimir Klitschko fight is because Haye wouldn’t relent to Klitschko’s financial demands.
So much for unifying the division then.
Although it’s fair to say no sane man would step in the ring with a Klitschko without being satisfied they are getting enough fiscal reward, sometimes ambition has to prevail over cash incentive. Reports have suggested the money wasn’t even that low, it was a relatively even split of the purse and the falling out came over how they split the rights to the PPV.
For fans of the heavyweight division Haye looked the real deal in terms of shaking things up. When “The Hayemaker” came along he had charisma, speed and skill, the exciting fighter the heavyweight division has been waiting for since Mike Tyson. Yet he’s let numbers and contracts detract from his legacy and his focus is clearly on becoming the richest person in boxing not the best.
Wladimir Klitschko holds three belts and has been the No.1 alongside his brother since Lennox Lewis retired. Haye might have established himself as unified cruiserweight champion but he is still the new boy at heavyweight and has to make sacrifices for his shot at the top dog.
This is a man who on his website claims, “It was always the intention of Adam [Booth, trainer/manager] and I to remain completely in charge of our destiny at all times. I wanted to take risks and do things the proper way. I didn’t want to hang around at domestic level for a decade and not learn anything about myself.
"I didn’t want to pick up some KFC title and call myself a world champion, knowing deep down
I wasn’t. It’s better to take a risk and fail – finding something out about yourself along the way – than to never have taken the risk at all.”
Oh dear.
Look at Alex Povetkin, he is undefeated and patiently waited for two years to get his shot; he is just happy to be fighting for a world championship. Haye should have just bitten the bullet taken what was on the table, unless it was ridiculous, but nothing suggests that Klitschko was pricing himself out. Kalle Sauerland who has a stake in David Haye confirmed the fight fell apart over money and the fact Haye can command a better fee now he is a world champion and well known worldwide. To be honest that is the last thing boxing fans want to hear.
Had Haye swallowed his pride, thought about his fans and the sport and beaten Wladimir Klitschko, he could have demanded whatever he wanted for Vitali, beaten him or rematched Wladimir and his legacy within the sport is all but assured. But it looks like it will be Audley Harrison now, for the big pay-per-view money. What then?
Is Haye just going to fight second-rate fighters and old men because if he didn’t think he’d get enough money from the PPV for the Klitschko fight he shouldn’t be thinking he’s going to rake it in from loyal fans who are going to shell out hard-earned money to watch him knock out some 45-year-old slugger.
Right now he’s not so much “The Hayemaker” as he is “The Paytaker”.
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