Haye-Klitschko aftermath

The reaction to the Wladimir Klitschko-David Haye fight in the British press has been predictably negative. There are very few specialist boxing journalists employed by the daily papers these days so in the majority of cases it was the football correspondent sent to report from Hamburg, leading to the usual standard of sporting journalism in this country; everything is either incredible & amazing or it's terrible & the end of the world. It's exactly the same when England enter a World Cup or a British player competes at Wimbledon, beforehand they're world beaters on the verge of history and then after they lose they are walking disasters, they should be ashamed of themselves, all sport in this country is in crisis.... the press don't believe in a middle ground, they are incapable of putting things into perspective. There is also the strange tendency for the journalist to act as though the failure of someone from this country at sport is a personal insult against them; the comments that Haye let everyone down because he didn't live up to his pre fight boasts are nonsensical. The mundane fact is that he tried to live up to them and simply wasn't allowed to by his opponent. One suggestion that he didn't have the heart for it was particularly insulting; Haye wasn't able to get inside the Klitschko jab to throw any meaningful punches but he continued to try for the full twelve rounds. I also take issue with anyone questioning the heart of any boxer from the safety of a keyboard...

The issue with the injury to his toe was unfortunate; Haye did sound like he was making excuses and it has also overshadowed the number of times that he has also admitted the better man won & his respect for Klitschko. Although it could be argued that you may not get the most balanced interview when ten minutes after a fight you stick a microphone in front of someone who is hurt and frustrated. What is also unfortunate is that the injury happened, as despite the mockery from ignorant quarters, it is a serious injury for a boxer that will affect their ability to perform; Frank Warren, Frank Bruno and others have been quoted criticising Haye for not pulling out of the fight

The fight should hopefully see Klitschko finally get a bit more respect; he put in a near faultless performance. While the brothers will never be the most exciting fighters in the world, they remain incredibly effective. They are always in perfect condition (a lesson other heavyweights seem incapable of learning), they follow their gameplan & they make the most of their physical advantages.

What happens next for both men is questionable. Haye is making noises about possibly not retiring in October & maybe looking for a rematch, while its hard to see anything out there for Klitschko. There are no viable contenders; the fact that a potential fight against the winner of the Chisora-Fury meeting has even been mentioned shows how desperate the situation is. The market for Wladimir facing a 14 fight novice is not going to have the tv companies reaching for their wallets.

Have found myself getting increasingly irritated with Klitschko continuing to maintain he was terribly offended with Hayes antics before the fight. For a start I don't believe he is so thin skinned & he's been in boxing for long enough to know how the game is played. He made an approximate £10 million from the weekend, that purse won't be there next time & neither will the worlds media, it all resulted from Haye's behaviour. The two biggest fights from a British point of view this year have been this & the earlier Groves-DeGale meeting, in both cases owing to the bad blood & insults that preceded them. There have been plenty of other excellent fights with respectful opponents; boxing fans were watching but the general public wasn't, so however distasteful the hype can appear, the problem is with society in general and not the sport

Haye haters




 
It appears as if Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye are finally going to meet on Saturday night, although I still won't believe its happening until the referee is giving them instructions in the centre of the ring. There are 48 hours to go, plenty of time for something to go wrong

There are a flood of previews, predictions & opinions out there already so I apologise for adding to the clutter; while its nice to see boxing getting so much mainstream attention, the downside to a big fight like this are the number of "experts" who appear from nowhere to offer their views. Obviously everyone is entitled to express an opinion but it might hold a tad more weight if you'd actually seen a boxing match since Frank Bruno retired...

Having had a quick look at opinions out there, I must admit I was surprised how many peopele are anti Haye; while the anonymity of the internet & Twitter will always lead to a number of jealous trolls trying to be controversial from the safety of their bedrooms, there does appear to be a large number of regular people who have been turned off by his behaviour. The common complaints are that he is arrogant & needs to be taught a lesson, that his attempts to market the fight are distasteful (see above)

The excellent Sky promo show "Behind the Ropes" probably didn't help; Wladimir came out of it far better, he appeared charming, polite & intelligent, while his opponent often looked childish & petty. However I think a lot of the criticism is missing the point; Haye understands how boxing works & how to sell fights. In order for it to appeal to a mass audience these days it has to be sold off the characters involved in the fight. As wrestling promoters have known for over a hundred years, there has to be a bad guy, someone for the crowd to boo & to hate, and this is the role that Haye has taken on. It doesn't matter if there are 50,000 people at the arena screaming for his blood on Saturday or millions watching hoping to see him knocked out, the important fact is they are there & they are watching.

Hayes' behaviour, going back to his challenge to a bemused Klitschko in London 3 years ago (watch) & the infamous severed heads t-shirt, have sold the fight;  a meeting between Klitschko & a relatively unknown former cruiserweight would not have generated anywhere near this level of excitement & attention. Proof of that is shown by the fact the fight will be screened on HBO in the US, who have refused to show fights involving the Klitschko brothers for years

As to the point about Haye being arrogant - good. If he didn't have such supreme self belief what hope would he stand against a man who has knocked out 49 previous opponents? He could have just shuffled into the ring resembling a man on the way to the scaffold, as so many of the Ukrainians recent opponents have done & would have lost the fight before a punch was thrown. The opinion of others is irrelevant, what matters is how a boxer copes with his own doubts or insecurity & if to overcome this they need to put up a front of complete confidence then so be it

Whether all the belief in the world will actually be enough to beat Klitschko.... we'll see on Saturday (fingers crossed)