Father Time and denial had defeated the Hayemaker before he even entered the ring; Haye and the rest of us just failed to accept it
I’ve always been a fan of David Haye. Since he was a cruiserweight, his timing, speed and explosive punch power were undeniable, even for anyone who didn’t like him. Under the tutelage of Adam Booth, his ring craftsmanship was impressive. He’d stalk his opponents, quickly finding his range while remaining elusive. That was before sensing an inevitable opening in which he’d relentlessly exploit. Once Haye had smelled blood, a brutal stoppage of his opponent was typically a fait accompli. It’s therefore little wonder that Haye has oozed confidence throughout his career.
His heart was sometimes questioned but that’s largely because he rarely had to dig deep. Prior to his defeat to Wladimir Klitschko, his only taste of defeat was against Carl Thompson. Hubris got the better of him as he punched himself out; leaving himself gassed after his unsuccessful early onslaught. Nonetheless, after the Thompson defeat, it was back to regularly scheduled programming and Haye’s punch power continued to deliver the W to his resume.
When Haye started landing bombs, who could withstand his punch power at cruiserweight (well, Carl Thompson aside)? And at heavyweight, it was broadly the same story.
Haye started to campaign at heavyweight in 2008, three years shy of his 31st birthday when he had always been resolute would be the deadline at which he’d retire. That was a sensible decision and at face value, achieving his goal of heavyweight titles within that time seemed fairly viable.
He defeated Nikolai Valuev to earn the WBA heavyweight title the following year. Losing his title to Wladimir Klitschko in 2011, Haye subsequently stuck to his word and retired. But after the fracas in Munich with Dereck Chisora, in 2012 he came out of retirement to fight Del Boy again, only this time in the ring.
Even after reneging on his claim of retirement, the Chisora fight could have been an ideal close to his career. Stopping a durable Chisora could have been the final W on his record. Alas, as so many fighters fail to do, Haye instead dared to evade the inescapable Father Time.
Returning to the ring in 2016, Haye fought two unknown fighters, who were roundly considered tomato cans, for a total of three rounds. His power was still there but power is typically the last attribute to fade from a heavyweight’s arsenal. And against such lacklustre opposition, timing and speed was never going to be called upon.
Nevertheless, Haye allowed those fights to bolster his denial that he was the same fighter before his hiatus. I was in denial as I wrote in encouragement of Haye remaining in the sport as he showed what he had left. Yet, I was in denial of the very facts that I had articulated in the very same article -
Father Time had called but Haye, and the rest of us, were ignoring him. Furthermore, the constant injuries, no signs of the Haye of old being present, and Haye’s inactivity, should have made it a giveaway.
When the Bellew fight was made, Haye was generally expected to blast the Liverpudlian out. At least that’s what most, including me, expected. Again in hindsight, I asserted what Haye and others, myself included, acknowledged but failed to give sufficient credence to -
I still stand by the fact that Bellew beat what was effectively a one-legged Haye (who probably entered the ring already injured). He also beat a faded fighter who in his prime would have smoked Bellew within a few rounds, the latter being something we should all have acknowledged. Father Time laid it out for us to see but we didn’t want to accept it and primarily, neither did Haye.
When the rematch with Bellew was called, it was postponed because of injury. Father Time must have been facepalming at the extent to which he was being ignored by Haye. Still, the result of the first fight was being put down to injury and exclusively so. A fully fit Haye was going to do what he would have done a decade prior, or so Haye and many fans and pundits believed. Although we failed to recognise that despite the chiseled physique being back, the fighter it once belonged to was no longer there.
Boxing YouTuber UltraTechSports, who as an aside has one of the best video intros on the internet, posted a video after Haye’s public workout and suggested that Haye looked injured. Haye’s distribution of weight was off and he wasn’t able to push off from his back foot which would undoubtedly hinder his biggest attribute of punch power. If Haye’s timing and speed had already gone, without his power, it was the final call from Father Time that Haye could no longer ignore.
Paulie Malignaggi, working as a pundit for Sky, made a similar observation from the first round. We weren’t seeing the Haye of old and UltraTechSports was bang on. Haye’s shots lacked their once signature power. Once that became apparent, Haye could no longer remain in denial and the once formidable fighter was now unravelling before our eyes.
Haye now needs to retire, a conclusion he should have come to years ago. Even if he were to continue fighting, it’s unlikely he’d find himself back in the mix as a contender for titles and the heavyweight landscape arguably has more depth than it did when he was at his peak.
Prior to the fight, he said that anything short of a spectacular defeat of Bellew would result in his retirement but in a post-fight interview, he didn’t seem so forthcoming with a retirement announcement. Maybe hearing Bellew and Eddie Hearn telling us “I told you so” in every iFL TV interview will give him the nudge he clearly needs.
With Hayemaker Ringstar Promotions, Haye can remain active in the sport without having to enter the ring again. He’s made a lot of money and despite a patchy record at heavyweight, has a legacy of being a former heavyweight and unified cruiserweight champion. He’s achieved much in the sport but I don’t want to see him in the ring again. Regardless of the result, he has no business being back in the ring either and that should be the message from everyone around him. I suspect those were sentiments from Adam Booth after Haye beat Chisora but to Haye’s detriment, it was clearly a message that he didn’t feel he needed to heed.
As for Bellew, I’ve always said that I’ve got a lot of time for him. He seems like a genuine guy and while I maintain he’s not an elite fighter, he’s a solidly good one who doesn’t lack heart. Bellew beat Haye and we shouldn’t take that away from him. However, Bellew wasn’t the only one getting the W at the O2 Arena; Father Time and denial were also there to claim their respective victories from David Haye.
His heart was sometimes questioned but that’s largely because he rarely had to dig deep. Prior to his defeat to Wladimir Klitschko, his only taste of defeat was against Carl Thompson. Hubris got the better of him as he punched himself out; leaving himself gassed after his unsuccessful early onslaught. Nonetheless, after the Thompson defeat, it was back to regularly scheduled programming and Haye’s punch power continued to deliver the W to his resume.
When Haye started landing bombs, who could withstand his punch power at cruiserweight (well, Carl Thompson aside)? And at heavyweight, it was broadly the same story.
Haye started to campaign at heavyweight in 2008, three years shy of his 31st birthday when he had always been resolute would be the deadline at which he’d retire. That was a sensible decision and at face value, achieving his goal of heavyweight titles within that time seemed fairly viable.
He defeated Nikolai Valuev to earn the WBA heavyweight title the following year. Losing his title to Wladimir Klitschko in 2011, Haye subsequently stuck to his word and retired. But after the fracas in Munich with Dereck Chisora, in 2012 he came out of retirement to fight Del Boy again, only this time in the ring.
Even after reneging on his claim of retirement, the Chisora fight could have been an ideal close to his career. Stopping a durable Chisora could have been the final W on his record. Alas, as so many fighters fail to do, Haye instead dared to evade the inescapable Father Time.
Returning to the ring in 2016, Haye fought two unknown fighters, who were roundly considered tomato cans, for a total of three rounds. His power was still there but power is typically the last attribute to fade from a heavyweight’s arsenal. And against such lacklustre opposition, timing and speed was never going to be called upon.
Nevertheless, Haye allowed those fights to bolster his denial that he was the same fighter before his hiatus. I was in denial as I wrote in encouragement of Haye remaining in the sport as he showed what he had left. Yet, I was in denial of the very facts that I had articulated in the very same article -
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.
Father Time had called but Haye, and the rest of us, were ignoring him. Furthermore, the constant injuries, no signs of the Haye of old being present, and Haye’s inactivity, should have made it a giveaway.
When the Bellew fight was made, Haye was generally expected to blast the Liverpudlian out. At least that’s what most, including me, expected. Again in hindsight, I asserted what Haye and others, myself included, acknowledged but failed to give sufficient credence to -
Haye began the fight clearly looking for that big shot but with some untidy and reckless work that reflected clear ring rust. There wasn’t anything clinical about his boxing in the first round that I scored in favour of Bellew. Haye experienced more success in subsequent rounds within the first half of the fight and I scored it accordingly. Although he wasn’t eclipsing Bellew how many expected and the Liverpudlian wasn’t fazed by him either. Bellew took some solid shots from Haye but soaked them up and came back with some of his own.
I still stand by the fact that Bellew beat what was effectively a one-legged Haye (who probably entered the ring already injured). He also beat a faded fighter who in his prime would have smoked Bellew within a few rounds, the latter being something we should all have acknowledged. Father Time laid it out for us to see but we didn’t want to accept it and primarily, neither did Haye.
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Boxing YouTuber UltraTechSports, who as an aside has one of the best video intros on the internet, posted a video after Haye’s public workout and suggested that Haye looked injured. Haye’s distribution of weight was off and he wasn’t able to push off from his back foot which would undoubtedly hinder his biggest attribute of punch power. If Haye’s timing and speed had already gone, without his power, it was the final call from Father Time that Haye could no longer ignore.
Paulie Malignaggi, working as a pundit for Sky, made a similar observation from the first round. We weren’t seeing the Haye of old and UltraTechSports was bang on. Haye’s shots lacked their once signature power. Once that became apparent, Haye could no longer remain in denial and the once formidable fighter was now unravelling before our eyes.
Haye now needs to retire, a conclusion he should have come to years ago. Even if he were to continue fighting, it’s unlikely he’d find himself back in the mix as a contender for titles and the heavyweight landscape arguably has more depth than it did when he was at his peak.
Prior to the fight, he said that anything short of a spectacular defeat of Bellew would result in his retirement but in a post-fight interview, he didn’t seem so forthcoming with a retirement announcement. Maybe hearing Bellew and Eddie Hearn telling us “I told you so” in every iFL TV interview will give him the nudge he clearly needs.
With Hayemaker Ringstar Promotions, Haye can remain active in the sport without having to enter the ring again. He’s made a lot of money and despite a patchy record at heavyweight, has a legacy of being a former heavyweight and unified cruiserweight champion. He’s achieved much in the sport but I don’t want to see him in the ring again. Regardless of the result, he has no business being back in the ring either and that should be the message from everyone around him. I suspect those were sentiments from Adam Booth after Haye beat Chisora but to Haye’s detriment, it was clearly a message that he didn’t feel he needed to heed.
As for Bellew, I’ve always said that I’ve got a lot of time for him. He seems like a genuine guy and while I maintain he’s not an elite fighter, he’s a solidly good one who doesn’t lack heart. Bellew beat Haye and we shouldn’t take that away from him. However, Bellew wasn’t the only one getting the W at the O2 Arena; Father Time and denial were also there to claim their respective victories from David Haye.
