Vitali Klitschko v Kevin Johnson: Haye starts the trash talk as burger-muncher prepares for day in the sun

Boxing Betting / Ralph Ellis / 10 December 2009 / Leave a Comment

This should persuade you to oppose Johnson - the WBA heavyweight contender is pictured with McDonalds burger - 'top' fuel in a tough sport like boxing

"Vitali is [1.09] to win on Saturday night, and [1.41] to do it inside the distance. And Haye reckons those odds are not only perfectly justified but a condemnation of the way the Ukrainian brothers have hung on to their belts by taking easy fights."

Klitschko trades at just [1.09] in the betting to see off Johnson and haye is not impressed by the standard of boxer the Ukrainian chooses to fight

David Haye says there are a million guys in America called Kevin Johnson, and he's probably not wrong. A quick look at Google tells you one of them is Mayor of Sacramento in California, and another is a ventriloquist who works with his "fine feathered friends", Clyde and Matilda.

One of them is also a boxer, and that's why Haye is rubbishing his record now ahead of Saturday night's fight between Johnson and WBC Champion Vitali Klitschko.

Britain's newly crowned World WBA heavyweight champion has an extra title of his own to contend for this weekend, when he's on the ten man shortlist to be the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year. He's [27.0] for that award at the moment, for all that his sensational David v Goliath triumph against Nikolay Valuev rocketed him to fame. Even that price is a safe one to lay simply because Haye's penchant for trash talking won't endear him to the Middle England voters who tend to decide the Beeb's most prestigious gong.

Not that the boxer from Bermondsey will be remotely worried. He has his eyes right now set on a bigger prize and that is to unify the heavyweight belts. But to do it he has to goad the Klitschko brothers into fighting him, and that's the strategy behind the latest verbal assault.

Vitali is [1.09] to win on Saturday night, and [1.41] to do it inside the distance. And Haye reckons those odds are not only perfectly justified but a condemnation of the way the Ukrainian brothers have hung on to their belts by taking easy fights.

"The fact a title fight between a Ukrainian and an American is being held in Switzerland tells you everything," claims Haye.

"Title fights should be huge events, not an afterthought in a country most famous for producing Toblerones. There are probably one million dudes in America called Kevin Johnson and beating one of them doesn't make you an all-time great heavyweight."

I must admit I've changed my mind about Haye since the Valuev fight. I thought his trash talking was tasteless, but I've realised he doesn't mean a word of it. It's all carefully planned and plotted to lure the top fighters in his division into the ring and his performance against the giant Russian, who he dazzled with speed of hand and footwork, marked him out as a genuine boxer.

The latest lines are clearly equally cleverly scripted, and could just have the desired effect to make the match he really wants after his own next fight - against John Ruiz in March or April - which should be just as straightforward as Klitschko against Johnson.

Five things you might not know about Kevin Johnson...

5. He has never been ranked higher than six with either the WBC or WBA