After a three-and-a-half year hiatus, David Haye has returned to boxing with a first round KO of Mark de Mori. However, many boxing fans have questioned Haye’s motives for returning to the ring. As a former unified cruiserweight world champion and latterly a WBA heavyweight world champion, Haye had, and has, little to prove or achieve in the sport. His loss to Wladimir Klitschko, in what was a lacklustre effort, was followed by a demolition job of Dereck Chisora that had needle aplenty in the build-up. Subsequently, Haye was scheduled to meet current heavyweight champion Tyson Fury but unfortunately pulled out twice due to injuries. Following the second injury, which required reconstructive shoulder surgery, it was suggested that Haye might not fight again. But as was suspected by many during his lay-off, Haye has made a return to the sport and a timely one at that.
It’s been suggested that Haye’s return is for financial reasons, a claim that hasn’t been supported by anything other than the rumour mill. As a boxer who’s always seemed to have great business acumen and astuteness, not to mention having made huge amounts of money in fights where he fought under his own Hayemaker promotional banner, I’d like to think there isn’t any truth to this. Nonetheless, whatever the reason for his return, Haye is back and ready to make his mark on the heavyweight division yet again.
Haye’s return has come at a time when the heavyweight landscape has freed itself from the shackles of the Klitschko brothers’ domination of the division that it was subject to when Haye stepped away from the sport. Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder are now champions and Anthony Joshua is being touted by many as the next big name of the division. Fortuitously and favourably for Haye, all three are potential opponents for him either en route or fighting for a world title. And all three are fights that Haye would win – subject to his current form.
While Haye had a decisive KO win over de Mori, it was after 2 minutes and 11 seconds of the first round. That’s 131 seconds from which we were able to gauge how much ring rust Haye may have accumulated in the last three-and-and-a-half years. What we do know is that Haye hasn’t lost any of his punch power and explosiveness, or his ability to finish an opponent once he smells blood. Conversely, there were glimpses of Haye’s timing and accuracy being slightly off but nothing that wouldn’t be expected from such a lengthy lay-off. There also wasn’t any opportunity to assess Haye’s punch resistance, or, due to the brevity of the bout, his stamina.
Haye has also returned with a new physique; he’s bulked up while retaining a chiselled frame but without any discernible loss of his trademark speed. Gone are the days of Haye fighting close to cruiserweight limit and he weighed in at a career-high of 227lbs 5oz. This didn’t seem to affect him negatively at all but it’s unknown how he would have carried that extra weight going into the second half of the fight.
While de Mori was a WBA top ten ranked opponent with a solid record, he represented a litmus test for Haye’s ability to compete rather than an actual test of being able to return to the highest level of the division. Prior to his fight against Haye, I’d never heard of de Mori which is telling of the level at which he’d previously fought at. Overall, there are still unanswered questions about Haye. Nevertheless, based on the little we have seen, there seems to be little to be concerned about regarding the legitimacy of his return.
Returning to Joshua, this seems to be the fight that Haye will want to pursue the quickest and arguably the most winnable fight too. With the hype around Joshua (which is gradually becoming warranted, just not as rapidly as some might suggest), and Haye’s ability to draw a crowd, Haye knows this will probably be the biggest money-spinner too. Haye’s performance against de Mori would have been intended to be quick and conclusive to make a statement akin to Joshua’s victories and put himself in the frame for a domestic PPV clash. Though, despite the rhetoric from Joshua’s team and the casual boxing fans of Joshua’s current ability exceeding that of his actual experience, Haye’s display of punching power will possibly provide a reality check that leads them to hold off from making that fight. Rather, a more sensible approach would be to build Joshua’s experience before putting him in such a dangerous fight that at the time of writing, I don’t think he could win.
As for Wilder and Fury, they’d provide sterner tests having operated at a higher level than Joshua. Fury has said he’d refuse to fight Haye given his two consecutive pull outs from when they were scheduled to fight which is understandable really. I expect that’s nonetheless just bombast from the big man who knows it’d be a huge fight. Haye vs Wilder too would be a great attraction in a UK vs US heavyweight fight that would capture the attention of a global audience. While Haye might have had an advantage over Wilder from when they sparred, three-and-a-half years is a long time in which Haye hasn’t fought anyone and Wilder became a world champion.
It’s certainly a new day in heavyweight boxing and Haye’s return makes it one of rich pickings for him if he’s able to return to his previous form. Although it still remains to be seen if that’s case. Yet from the little we saw again de Mori, there’s increasingly less reason to think otherwise and more reason to believe that Haye will begin his ascent through the rankings en route to a heavyweight title.
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Haye’s return has come at a time when the heavyweight landscape has freed itself from the shackles of the Klitschko brothers’ domination of the division that it was subject to when Haye stepped away from the sport. Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder are now champions and Anthony Joshua is being touted by many as the next big name of the division. Fortuitously and favourably for Haye, all three are potential opponents for him either en route or fighting for a world title. And all three are fights that Haye would win – subject to his current form.
While Haye had a decisive KO win over de Mori, it was after 2 minutes and 11 seconds of the first round. That’s 131 seconds from which we were able to gauge how much ring rust Haye may have accumulated in the last three-and-and-a-half years. What we do know is that Haye hasn’t lost any of his punch power and explosiveness, or his ability to finish an opponent once he smells blood. Conversely, there were glimpses of Haye’s timing and accuracy being slightly off but nothing that wouldn’t be expected from such a lengthy lay-off. There also wasn’t any opportunity to assess Haye’s punch resistance, or, due to the brevity of the bout, his stamina.
Haye has also returned with a new physique; he’s bulked up while retaining a chiselled frame but without any discernible loss of his trademark speed. Gone are the days of Haye fighting close to cruiserweight limit and he weighed in at a career-high of 227lbs 5oz. This didn’t seem to affect him negatively at all but it’s unknown how he would have carried that extra weight going into the second half of the fight.
While de Mori was a WBA top ten ranked opponent with a solid record, he represented a litmus test for Haye’s ability to compete rather than an actual test of being able to return to the highest level of the division. Prior to his fight against Haye, I’d never heard of de Mori which is telling of the level at which he’d previously fought at. Overall, there are still unanswered questions about Haye. Nevertheless, based on the little we have seen, there seems to be little to be concerned about regarding the legitimacy of his return.
Returning to Joshua, this seems to be the fight that Haye will want to pursue the quickest and arguably the most winnable fight too. With the hype around Joshua (which is gradually becoming warranted, just not as rapidly as some might suggest), and Haye’s ability to draw a crowd, Haye knows this will probably be the biggest money-spinner too. Haye’s performance against de Mori would have been intended to be quick and conclusive to make a statement akin to Joshua’s victories and put himself in the frame for a domestic PPV clash. Though, despite the rhetoric from Joshua’s team and the casual boxing fans of Joshua’s current ability exceeding that of his actual experience, Haye’s display of punching power will possibly provide a reality check that leads them to hold off from making that fight. Rather, a more sensible approach would be to build Joshua’s experience before putting him in such a dangerous fight that at the time of writing, I don’t think he could win.
As for Wilder and Fury, they’d provide sterner tests having operated at a higher level than Joshua. Fury has said he’d refuse to fight Haye given his two consecutive pull outs from when they were scheduled to fight which is understandable really. I expect that’s nonetheless just bombast from the big man who knows it’d be a huge fight. Haye vs Wilder too would be a great attraction in a UK vs US heavyweight fight that would capture the attention of a global audience. While Haye might have had an advantage over Wilder from when they sparred, three-and-a-half years is a long time in which Haye hasn’t fought anyone and Wilder became a world champion.
It’s certainly a new day in heavyweight boxing and Haye’s return makes it one of rich pickings for him if he’s able to return to his previous form. Although it still remains to be seen if that’s case. Yet from the little we saw again de Mori, there’s increasingly less reason to think otherwise and more reason to believe that Haye will begin his ascent through the rankings en route to a heavyweight title.
