David Haye and the Heavyweight Contenders 2009
The Klitschko Brothers Aside There are Other Challenges Facing Haye
Nov 12, 2009
Aside from the Klitschko’s there are a number of potential opponents that would allow Haye to gain exposure and make money. The division, while not crammed with talent, features a number of Heavyweight contenders capable of drawing crowds and extending the new WBA champion.
The Current Heavyweight Contenders Feature A Former Amateur Rival
Odlanier Solis, 16-0 (12 KO’s) is a former amateur rival and one of the rising stars of the division. Solis stopped Haye in the final of the 2001 World Amateur Championships, recovering from a points deficit to do so. The former 2004 Olympic champion is fresh, quick and exciting.
Their respective styles would all but guarantee an exciting and competitive match. Solis, who recently stopped common opponent Monte Barrett in two rounds, just needs to keep winning and he will eventually move into title contention. Though he is relatively unknown outside of the hardcore boxing community the match could be sold on the pairs amateur rivalry and the fact that Solis is a former Olympic champion.
The Exciting Veteran Tua
There are a number of rising or returning stars that would make for entertaining and more importantly winnable matches for Haye. David Tua, 50-3-1 (44 KO’s) has recently returned to action with a crushing stoppage victory. Tua is exciting, well known and marketable; a fight with him would promise fireworks while it lasted. David would certainly be vulnerable to the Kiwi’s swarming attack, but it is the sort of fight that would allow him to re-establish his credentials as the division’s most exciting performer, following the cautious circumspection he displayed against Valuev.
Tua, another fighter prone to lengthy bouts of inactivity, would have to keep fighting and winning if he is to secure a second shot at the world title (having fought Lennox Lewis in 2000). However, the fight would be easy to market either in England or abroad, promising as it does a thrilling encounter.
Tua has a crushing left hook and is deceptively quick. His biggest wins have been spectacular and often over in a flash. He holds knockout wins over John Ruiz (Haye’s mandatory challenger), David Izon, Michael Moorer and Hasim Rahman, all former world titleholders. However, he can be outboxed (as Lennox Lewis showed in 2000) and made to look somewhat plodding and pedestrian. Tua would be the sort of opponent that could potentially bring the best out of Haye.
Boytsov the Rising Star
Dennis Boytsov, 26-0 (21 KO’s) is arguably the most promising of the rising young heavyweight prospects. Well sculpted physically and possessed of a thunderous punch in either hand, the young Russian has been making waves over recent months. The division needs a fresh influx of young talent to maintain public interest. At present the divisions demographic is firmly rooted in the thirty plus arena.
Boytsov, like Solis and Tua, is a smallish heavyweight, so again it is more likely that the viewing public would be treated to an exciting, punch filled match. The twenty-three year old Russian is raw and untested at world level, though all this could change over the next year or so.
Following in the Footsteps of Former British Greats
Taking a leaf out of the former British Super-Middleweight heroes of the nineties, Haye might choose to focus his attention closer to home. Benn, Eubank, Watson and Collins engaged in a memorable series of slugfests for domestic supremacy back in the early 1990’s, drawing the crowds and igniting interest in a faltering domestic market. A series of fights in London could re-invigorate British boxing, giving it the shot in the arm it has lacked since the halcyon days of the aforementioned warriors.
The downside to this is that there are a lack of creditable British challengers at heavyweight. Domestic battles against the likes of Sam Sexton or Audley Harrison are unlikely to garner Haye positive revues in America, or excite the capricious yet vital pay-per-view market. Haye has stated that he wishes to get out of the sport by the age of thirty-one. Tying up the title in a series of unthreatening and relatively meaningless defences would add little or nothing to his legacy. The Bermondsey man is looking to emulate Evander Holyfield and leave a meaningful body of work behind him at heavyweight.
Quality Contenders Mean the Division's Future Looks Rosy
Should the very biggest fights against the Klitschko brothers fail to materialise David Haye has options enough to keep him busy elsewhere. As an articulate, hard hitting and marketable champion David is riding the crest of a wave at the minute. Whoever he chooses to fight Haye will remain big box office.
