RingSide Report

World News, Social Issues, Politics, Entertainment and Sports

Deontay Wilder Vs David Haye : While he Awaits Wladimir Klitschko Vs Tyson Fury Winner?

Deontay-Wilder2By Travis Fleming

Former heavyweight, and unified cruiserweight, champion David Haye, 26-2 24 KO’s, has recently gone on record saying he wants to end his career by winning another heavyweight title, but this time he wants to do it in America and he’s targeting undefeated WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder, 33-0 32 KO’s.

The 34 year old Haye hasn’t fought since he knocked out bitter rival Derek Chisora nearly three years ago. He has been plagued with injuries, and as a result has been forced to pull out of several big scheduled fights. It’s not known if Haye can get through a training camp without re-aggravating injuries, but when he’s in top form he’s an excellent fighter and second to only Wladimir Klitschko, 64-3 53 KO’s, as far as proven heavyweight commodities go. He would obviously need a tune up before facing Wilder, but if he looks good in a tune up fight and can return to peak form, Haye versus Wilder is a real pick’em fight that would serve as a great springboard to a huge fight against Klitschko, should Wilder emerge victorious (let’s face it no one cares to see Haye and Wlad avoid each other for 12 rounds again).

Haye rubs a lot of fans the wrong way and that leads to them discrediting his talent and accomplishments. He lacks warrior spirit, he makes up excuses, he pulls out of fights, and he acts arrogant and entitled, but the man is a legitimate top level talent. Haye possesses huge power, blinding speed, uncanny reflexes and superb defense. In his last fight, Haye destroyed the same Derek Chisora that went 12 rounds with Vitali Klitschko. Haye battered and stopped John Ruiz worse than anyone since David Tua. Haye did better against Wladimir Klitschko than anyone since Lamon Brewster, and showed incredible reflexes and defense in a losing effort. Haye dethroned the seven foot tall giant Nikolai Valuev in front of Valuev’s home crowd and was the only fighter in over fifty pro contests to wobble the behemoth when he rattled him with a giant right hand at the end of round twelve. Against Wlad, he fought scared and wouldn’t engage, so it was a boring fight as Klitschko himself also refused to engage, being wary of Haye’s power. These are just his heavyweight accomplishments, remember that before this he was a total beast, and unified champion, at cruiserweight. He had incredible knockouts, and if he stayed a cruiserweight he could have been one of the all time greats of the division and we would have never heard of Marco Huck, Denis Lebedev etc…

In top form against Wilder, Haye would stand a legit chance. Haye is quicker, better fundamentally, and better defensively than Wilder. They both have excellent power, but Haye’s defense would pose Wilder trouble, remember Klitschko is super accurate and even he had trouble jabbing Haye. Peak Haye would have also toyed with Bermane Stivern as Wilder did to win his title. Haye and Wilder sparred a few years back when Haye was on top of his game, and rumors have Haye knocking down Wilder, or at least taking it to him, mind you this was before Wilder had developed into the better fighter he is today. Against this more polished Wilder in a non sparring environment, Haye might just get gun shy again and choose not to engage in fear of getting brutally knocked out. He might fight a boring, safety first fight like he did against Wlad and end up losing on points. Wilder looks to have more dog in him, more courage and more will to win. It’s a pick’em fight, but a great one for boxing if Wilder were to win as it would create more hype for a Wilder versus Klitschko battle, especially if Wilder were to one up Klitschko by stopping Haye.
Wilder wants to fight Wladimir Klitschko for all the major titles at heavyweight but first Klitschko has to fight his mandatory challenger Tyson Fury, 24-0 18 KO’s. Since he just fought Bryant Jennings, Klitschko will likely fight Fury in September or October which means he won’t be ready to fight Wilder until likely February or March of 2016.

Wilder versus Klitschko would be for all the marbles and would be one of the biggest heavyweight battles in recent history. Klitschko looked worse than he’s looked in over a decade last weekend against Bryant Jennings. At 39, he finally started showing his age and he looks to be ripe for the taking. He beat Jennings clearly but gave up more rounds than he has in any recent fight, looked very hittable, and at times got bullied into the ropes against a relative novice in Jennings. After seeing the Jennings fight unfold how it did, you’ve got to give Wilder an excellent chance at putting an end to Klitschko’s reign. The fight would be big if it happened right now, but with a couple more impressive wins under Wilders belt, it would be humongous. Here is what I consider to be the best case scenario for boxing fans to get the biggest heavyweight battle of the last two decades: (keep in mind this is just the best case scenario for boxing popularity and not necessarily who I think will win, as I feel Haye and Thompson both have legitimate shots at beating Wilder and I feel Fury versus Klitschko can be competitive)

Wlad fights Fury in September or October and wins, setting up a March 2016 battle against the winner of Wilder versus Haye for all four major heavyweight titles.Haye and Wilder return on same card in July with tuneups. Haye versus Arreola, Wilder versus Thompson. They both win and they meet in October or November. Wilder knocks out Haye to set up a Klitschko fight next March, with Klitschko coming off an gutsy win over Tyson Fury.

Could you imagine how big the Klitshko vs Wilder fight would be if this played out? Imagine if Wilder won? He’s already got the style, the menacing physique, the killer instinct, the charisma, and the nationality to bring the fans in, but as a power punching Klitschko conquerer, and holder of all four major heavyweight belts, he would be the biggest heavyweight star since Mike Tyson. The world would take notice and be in awe, and fear, of the new baddest man on the planet. He would transcend the sport in one fight more than Klitschko did in a decade and a half.

Leave a Reply