REMATCH? TOE BE OR NOT TOE BE?
By Robert Maher.
Three days have transpired since the big heavyweight title unification bout in Hamburg and we are back to square one. David Haye is calling out Wladimir Klitschko, has anything really changed? After all the big talk beforehand, the Hayemaker lost by a wide margin points verdict, after which he cried injury. A broken hand? a dislocated shoulder? no, a broken little toe. David had promised in the weeks preceding the bout that he would brutally destruct the big robot, put boxing back on the map and decapitate Klitschko. This would have been achieved of course, were it not for David's poorly little toe. I am afraid this explanation for a lacklustre display has backfired on Mr Haye. A few days ago this man was a hero, now he is being portrayed as a fraudster, a fake, a chump who conned his adoring British public on many levels. Perhaps Haye can be forgiven, in failing to make good on his knockout victory pre-fight prediction. Boxers and sportsmen in general need to be supremely confident and believe in their own abilities. This stereotypical rhetoric puts bums on seats, increases pay per view subscriptions and gets under the opponents skin, the latter either being to the perpetrators gain or indeed misfortune. However, Haye told the world he was in the best physical shape and in peak condition. Then, loses the fight and emerges as a crippled ex champ with a broken toe, an injury sustained three weeks prior to the biggest fight of his career.
David, you have short changed the public, those fans who placed their bets on a Haye win, not knowing you had a serious physical impairment. You could have pulled out of the bout with injury, the fight would have been postponed, not cancelled. How can we believe a single word you say now David? Is all your diatribe a smokescreen? propaganda? designed to manipulate your adoring public as well as your ring adversary. Ok, Hindsight is a wonderful thing, Haye pulled out with injury in the past and lost considerable face because of it. His local anaesthetic had worked in training but supposedly not for this championship contest. So maybe he's the no.3 heavyweight in the world now, behind Wladimir Klitschko and his older sibling Vitali, that does not make him a bum. In reality, Haye showed extraordinary courage to even get in the ring with Klitschko, giving away 2 stone in weight, 4 inches in height and considerable reach. Haye took some full blooded shots from Wladimir and never looked like going down or being knocked out. He showed great speed, a rock solid chin and lion-hearted courage.
Boxing is primarily a business as opposed to a sport, money dictates. The heavyweight division is currently devoid of great talent and charismatic personalities. In terms of a rematch, this could work in David Hayes favour. A return match is indeed probable despite the conclusive points defeat suffered by Haye. Who else is there for Wladimir Klitschko to fight? his own brother? that will never happen. David has talent, good looks, personality and a big mouth. Even better, an injury to blame for his defeat. So here we go folks, prepare yourselves for the rematch, Wembley stadium awaits. As does a multi million pound purse for the engaging pugilists. Haye may have to concede parity this time and accept a 70/30 split in favour of the Ukrainian. Heavyweight history says that next time, Haye will lose again, albeit more convincingly. However, one punch can change everything and turn almost certain defeat into victory. This could happen in round one or round twelve, in such a case the scorecards become redundant. As for the two-faced facebookers and arm chair tweeters, who execute their uneducated verbal swipes from the vantage point of hindsight, most have never laced on a glove in their lives and would lack the intestinal fortitude. Maybe they too should sample a slice of humble pie as well as the Hayemaker. A few days ago he was king in your eyes and now you reduce him to a second rate pretender. Says more about you than David Haye, who in reality is a world class high achiever in the toughest of sports.
I must say, David did nothing to endear his supporters by delaying his ring entrance at the Imtech outdoor arena by ten minutes, made worse by the fact it was raining on the fans. At the time, Sky commentators reported this delay as being deliberate psychological warfare from Haye. Allegedly, Klitschko had planned to keep Haye waiting for ten minutes in the ring prior to emerging from his own dressing room, payback for David turning up late for an earlier press conference. Haye now claims the prolonged wait was down to him receiving a second local anaesthetic injection in his foot. David also runs the risk of alienating his followers with his constant complaining to the referee. A ploy that cost Wladimir initially with a point deduction for leaning on his opponent, only to backfire on Haye, who would later receive a count for an illegitimate knockdown by way of retribution. So prepare yourselves for super fight no.2, let's hope more combination punches will be thrown from both protagonists next time around.
