Boxing Betting / Richard Douglas / 02 January 2009 /

As the leading lights of recent years hang up their gloves, David Haye is expected to dominate British boxing in 2009. But the man he is expected to face in a grudge-match in June has vowed to, "enter the ring with a cold heart." Richard Douglas reports...

There is likely to be a changing of the guard at the highest level of British boxing in 2009. For years Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton have punched a hole in the theory that our domestic fighters are merely paper tigers on the world stage.

However, their time is nearly up. The former says he has probably hung up his gloves for good while the latter is a defeat away from the same fate.

They will be huge act to follow but David Haye has the talent, bravado, charisma and character to fill the void.

In November, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion stepped up to heavyweight and destroyed Monte Barrett in five rounds. The fight was typical Haye. There were easier opponents available but the Bermondsey puncher grasped the nettle with relish. He displayed a certain vulnerability but blasted out his opponent in eye-catching style.

Afterwards, a title fight with Vladimir Klitschko was mooted. In fact he is set to take on his older (and considerably better) brother Vitali.

Negotiations were held after the younger sibling beat Hasim Rahman just before Christmas. The two management teams thrashed the basis of a deal in a German restaurant until the early hours then Haye and Vitali joined the meeting.

The Englishman came into the room holding a magazine. On its cover was a picture of Haye holding aloft the severed head of a vanquished Vladimir.

He tossed it on the table and, according to his manager Adam Booth: "Vitali stared at the picture, then he stared at David then he stared at the picture again. That went for about 10 seconds. Next thing you know all the furniture was moving."

In the cold light of day, Vitali's mood had hardly cooled. "It is difficult to describe my feelings," he said later. "There is David Haye on the photo laughing with the head of my brother... he overstepped the mark. He must pay for this photo... I will enter the ring with a cold heart."

Their grudge-match is pencilled in for June in London. Given Haye's hand-speed, mobility and punch power, he would have been favourite to beat the weak-chinned Vladimir. Vitali, however, is a different gravy.

The older brother has lost only twice - once on cuts when he was beating Lennox Lewis and once when he tore a shoulder muscle against Chris Byrd. His safety-first attitude will never wow the crowds outside of his adopted Germany but a stiff jab, solid chin and significant reach advantage have been more than enough to reach the pinnacle of the division - albeit with a four-year hiatus for injury.

But were Haye to win - and that is very possible - he just may be able to clear up both Klitschko brothers before 2010. Those two wins would sure make him a multi, multi, multi-millionaire.

It just proves yet again that if 2009 is set to be the year of the credit crunch, then no-one has told boxing.

But then last year Hatton's sporting stock rating performed in the opposite way to the FTSE. The financial markets dipped gradually until the summer and then crashed in the last two quarters. Hatton came into the year on the crest of a slump having been beaten up by the imperious Floyd Mayweather over 10 horrible rounds.

He rebuilt slowly with a troubled points win over Juan Lazcano in May but a change of trainers, ironically to Floyd Mayweather Senior, saw him dismantle Pauli Malignaggi in November.

This summer he could earn $20 million for a maximum of 36 minutes fighting. On New Year's Day, reports suggested Hatton had inked a deal with fight Manny Pacquiao on May 2 in Las Vegas. It was a surprise to some.

The Manchester fighter had been ringside when the Filipino pummelled a weight-drained Oscar de la Hoya to an eighth-round stoppage in December. His presence was designed to build up the fight between himself and the winner but the emphatic nature of Pacquiao's victory may tempt Mayweather out of retirement. It is entirely possible that Hatton's bout will now be eliminator for a shot for the pound-for-pound title.

Calzaghe, however, seems set on leaving the sweet science. Carl Froch's camp say they have offered £5 million for the Welsh to come to Nottingham and try to regain his WBC super-middleweight belt. The unbeaten southpaw's response was illuminating.

"He's big in Nottingham, no-one in America, no-one in Europe," he said. "He won my vacant belt against a fighter from Canada who had never fought in world class. I don't like him so why should I give him payday?"

That would leave Calzaghe's only option to be a re-match with Bernard Hopkins at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It would be a wonderful way to bow out but would smack of "pension-provision" given his victory over the American last year.

Still, money is a god to all in the fight game. And, though Britain's best boxers are at different stages of their careers, that will determine their decisions in the next 12 months.

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