Since his July defeat at the hands of Wladimir Klitschko, David Haye has been sending signals that pointed mostly towards retirement. Carl Froch even came back from a vacation in Jamaica with Haye and told the British press that Haye sounded like a man who wanted to retire. However, astute observers of boxing mostly found the idea that the Hayemaker would retire on a loss incredible, and I for one expected it would only be a matter of time before he started his comeback.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Haye indicated that he would “postpone” his retirement for a shot at redemption against Wladimir’s big brother, Vitali Klitschko. Haye and his team watched Vitali Klitschko’s fight with Tomasz Adamek closely, and they seem to think there were chinks in Vitali’s armor. Haye said “Vitali did what he needed to do, he was effective, he was fighting a guy with no head movement, with little or no idea of how to beat him. Klitschko should have knocked him out a lot sooner.”
This is true insofar as it goes. Tomasz Adamek, while well-schooled, is a rigid, stand-up fighter in the classic Continental style. So are the Klitschko brothers, for that matter. Even so, I have a hard time seeing Haye beat Dr. Ironfist. Of the two brothers, Vitali is less athletic and more injury-prone, but he has the better chin and is much more willing to mix it up.
If Haye actually had been able to penetrate Wladimir’s reach and boxing skill to land combinations, then little brother Wlad would have had few alternatives than to open up and slug it out. Big brother Vitali, on the other hand, is happy to get physical if the circumstances call for it. If Haye were to fluster Vitali, or worse, if Vitali managed to hurt Haye, then the Briton would find a powerful, able 6’7 1/2″ puncher bearing down on him.
In my opinion, Haye has fallen victim to his own trash talking and promotional boasting, as he was not crushed by Wladimir Klitschko in the way everyone says he was. Even so, I’ve always thought Vitali Klitschko was a bad style match-up for Haye, and in fact it is my suspicion that the Klitschko brothers — who operate as a tag-team in many respects — were originally trying to maneuver a Vitali vs. Haye fight. Dr. Ironfist might be the only big fight left out there for Haye (and visa versa for Vitali), but that doesn’t mean it makes good career sense for him to take it.
At this junction, David Haye has three choices. He can retire on schedule next month, leaving the game on a loss and under a cloud. He can pursue a fight with Vitali, make a fraction of the money he did against Wladimir and suffer another defeat for this trouble. Finally, Haye can rebuild his career in the traditional way, take on a few of the other top contenders and/or rising heavyweights, and then either go after a rematch with Wladimir, fight Vitali or move into the vacancy left when one of the brothers retires.
Even Haye’s enemies admit that the man has managed his career very well. We’ll see what Vitali Klitschko has to say about this, but I promise you one thing: another Klitschko vs. Haye fight won’t be settled just by one phone call, and while the negotiations continue, Haye will get people talking and get his career back on track.
