The Heavyweight Division’s Hayemaker: David Haye Proves He Belongs
By Joe Wilson
The showdown between WBA Heavyweight Champion David Haye and former 2-Time Champion John Ruiz turned up the volume in the heavyweight division. In what was supposed to be another boring masterpiece of a John Ruiz epic, it turned out to be fireworks.
It was at the fast hands of David “The Hayemaker” Haye, whom gave fight fans plenty excitement while defending his title. This victory over Ruiz was no small task, being that very few fighters have not been able to knock him out. Haye dropped Ruiz four times in this fight, which deserves some applause.
Haye was way ahead on all scorecards going into the round 9. During that round, he continued to punish Ruiz with power shots. It wasn’t long before Ruiz’s corner threw in the towel. They did want to see anymore punishment done to their fighter. Haye defeats Ruiz by TKO in 9th round.
David Deron Haye was born October 13, 1980, in Bermondsey, London, England. He turned professional as a boxer in December 2002, knocking out veteran Tony Booth in two rounds. The same year Haye won 8 consecutive fights, two of them fought in the United States, and he won them all by knockout.
His most notable win, was a four round knockout of The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Lolenga Mock, where Haye had to come off the canvas to get a win. He also had a first round KO over Tony Dowling were he picked up the English title. Haye fights where regularly seen on the BBC Network, which is where his popularity started to grow in the cruiserweight division.
Haye destroyed 39 year old ex-World Champion “King” Arthur Williams in three rounds. He also had a match up with 40 year old ex-WBO Champion Carl Thompson for the IBO belt which turned out to be a bad choice. Haye was hit multiple times to the head by Thompson and his corner threw in the towel resulting to a TKO victory for Thompson in round 5.
In 2005, Haye bounced back by defeating Alexander Gurov for the EBU European title by a devastating KO in just 45 seconds. In January 2006, Haye signed a three year contract with former world champion Lennox Lewis promoter Frank Maloney; with hopes of furthering his world title ambitions.
He retained his European Title with victories over Lasse Johansen by TKO in round 8; Ismail Abdoul in 12 rounds; and Giacobbe Fragomeni by TKO in round nine. In November 2007, he challenged Jean-Marc Mormeck for the WBA and WBC Cruiserweight titles. Haye defeated Mormeck with a 7 round TKO after being knocked down himself in round 4.
It was this victory that confirmed Haye’s arrival as a genuine world class fighter, because Mormeck was ranked number one by The Ring Magazine. This was supposed to be his last fight at cruiserweight, because he had been struggling to make weight. Haye felt that he could only box at 70 to 80 percent of his potential at cruiserweight.
David Haye and Enzo Maccarinelli met in an All-British World Cruiserweight Title fight in March 2008. British trade papers Boxing News produced a pullout special on the bout. It was widely billed as the biggest British fight since Chris Eubanks against Nigel Benn. This match up seemed to be equal in many ways.
Both of these fighters were massive punchers with excellent KO records. A prediction of who would win became a tough question. But, most fans thought it would end quickly. Haye won this fight against Maccarinelli with a stunning TKO in round two. After that win, Haye immediately announced his departure of the cruiserweight division.
David Haye became a former undisputed cruiserweight champion holding the WBA, WBC, WBO and The Ring Magazine cruiserweight titles. Haye decided to vacate these titles to move up to the heavyweight division. His intentions are to become a force in the division emulating the success of Evander Holyfield.
In November 2008, Haye quickly defeated heavyweight journeyman Monte Barrett with a TKO in the fifth round after dropping Barrett in round 3. WBC Heavyweight Champion Vitali Klitschko confirmed he would defend his title against Haye to take place June 2009 at Stamford Bridge in London.
Instead, younger brother, IBF, IBO, and WBO Heavyweight World Champion Wladimir Klitschko agreed to defend his titles with Haye the same date in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. June 3, 2009 Haye pulled out of the fight due to a back injury. The fight was supposed to be reschedule later that summer, but Wladimir moved on to fight another opponent.
Haye then confirmed to meet the “7 foot giant” Nikolay Valuev for the WBA Title in November 2009 in Nuremberg Arena, Nuremberg, Germany. This fight was sky billed as “David and Goliath.” Haye showed no fear of the 7 foot giant. He brought the same courage that David brought when he dropped Goliath.
With the reserved display of accuracy and efficiency, Haye countered Valuev’s missed punches, by jabbing and circling this huge opponent. Haye came close to scoring a knockdown in the final round by throwing a powerful left hand punch that caused Valuev to stumble. Haye won this bout in a twelve round decision.
In his brutal victory over John Ruiz this past weekend, David Haye has definitely stepped up his fight game. He can now play a major role in rejuvenating the heavyweight division. I imagined he got the attention of the Klitschkos after his last bout.
If there is anyone out there, who was wondering who David “The Hayemaker” Haye is? Well, just stay tuned into the heavyweight division, because I have a good feeling, that his name will be heard in many boxing circles. As of now, David Haye has definitely become a major “piece of the puzzle” in the heavyweight division.