Boxing Betting / Paul Moon / 22 July 2011 / 5

Paul Moon pulls no punches in his bleak assessment of the parlousness of heavyweight boxing...

The lack of decent American fighters at heavyweight level continues to undermine boxing. This division has never been so mediocre and boxing supporters are being deceived and fleeced. The David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko fight earlier this month highlighted this .

Whilst it appears that the Klitschko brothers have no intention of raising the profile of their sport, it is not their fault regarding the current level of competition. Ironically, it has been left to a boxer who is not even a heavyweight to try and generate interest.

It has been difficult to accept David Haye as a serious boxer. He is a bag of contradictions. He is confident yet careful, skillful yet contrived, he is brave but foolish. In a desperate effort to promote himself, Haye became celebrated for trash-talking of the type more suited to the World Wrestling Entertainment scene. Pre-fight rhetoric featuring bombs, war, severed heads and body bags always sound puerile after a defeat but more so after a tame performance like the one he gave against Klitschko. Incredulity was stretched when he displayed a swollen toe on a press table partially blaming the offending digit for his loss.

This fight was supposedly defining yet it was clear that Haye had every intention of looking after himself and sticking to his plan of finishing his boxing career without injury. The fact that he finished the Klitschko fight with petrol in the tank spoke volumes.

There are murmurs about a return match but he was soundly beaten and there is nothing in his armoury or mentality to suggest another fight would produce a different performance, something that he has almost admitted since. He always insisted he would announce his retirement before his 31st birthday in October, which was another huge PR mistake, especially as he lost the fight.

Most professionals in the boxing fraternity recognise that Haye is too small to be a successful world heavyweight champion lacking the power to enforce or finish. His frame is exactly suited to the cruiserweight division and he was successful in that weight category and should have stuck to it. It represents a wasted opportunity but we now realise the boxer had other thoughts.

Although at 31 he still has much to give, it is doubtful he will ever box again. He is man for a plan and he has enough money for his next venture. It is almost certain that he will officially announce his retirement form boxing shortly before declaring to all and sundry that he is relocating to Hollywood. His undeniable marketability and showmanship will make great box office and, with friends like Michael Caine and Jason Statham to introduce him to film producers and directors, his charm, confidence and humour will take over and his success assured.

He has brought interest to boxing and must be credited for that. But looking back at his career you can clearly see the join between boxer and actor. Meanwhile, we have several more dreary years of the Klitschko brothers dominating the heavyweight scene with no sign of change or saviour.

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(5)

1. Rocky Moon | 22 July 2011

   I totally agree the heavyweight boxing scene is at its lowest since the days of Ali, Frazier, foreman amd holmes not includinhg tyson and Lennox Lewis
   There is no real interest in this division at present and believe that we will never in our lifetime see the likes of another Ali.
   those bouts with frazier and foreman were spectacular and held worldwide interest, i could not wait to get up in the morning to switch on the telly to see
   who had won the fight and watch it the next day.
   Haye is a small fish in this field and should have stuck to cruiserweight ,there was only one cruiserweight who could really compete at this level and that was Evander Holyfield

2. antiochos | 22 July 2011

   the only sad state in heavyweight boxing consisted of convicted rapists walking around as champions and ex-champions unable to construct full sentences due to dementia. Thank God Klitschkos came to remind us that boxers are- above all- athletes and champions should serve society as role models. Meanwhile, guys like you should attempt time travel and enjoy themselves in the Colosseum.

3. Paul Moon | 25 July 2011

   Antiochos
   Your first point is well made. I found boxers like Mike Tyson abhorrent and I neither celebrate him nor his lifestyle.
   Fully accept that the Klitschko's are athletes and work hard and it is not their fault if they are best around but they are boring to watch - surely you would agree? I would not pay to view either of them!
   We desperately need a couple of new heavyweights to come on the scene and shake things up.
   However,I do not subscribe to your point that boxers must serve society as role models - if they do that is great but it is not a prerequisite.
   Do appreciate your comment, thanks
   Paul

   
   

4. Rhodri | 25 July 2011

   Great article!

5. Carlos Riva | 08 August 2011

   Yes, the heavyweight category is in a sorry situatuon, and the latest Klitchsko-Haye fight proves it.However
   the idea that Haye is not a proper heavyweight, that he is too small is idiotic. Apparently those who say so have never read or seen nothing about past heavyweight champions.Jack Johnson, Dempsey, Tunney,Schmelling, Baer, Bradock, the great Joe Luis, Marciano, Patterson, the intimating Sonny Liston, not to say Mike Tysson where all smaller and lighter than Haye. Many, the majority would be today classified as Cruiser weights. Ali, Foreman and Holmes where de same size and similar weight.
   The problem with Haye is not size, its heart, guts. Indeed he has the fast tongue of a lizard (camaleon), the speed of a panther but the heart of a rabbit. A cowardly rabbit, that is.

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