By Terence Dooley
When Lennox Lewis made his way to the ring to defend his undisputed heavyweight world title against Francois Botha at the New London Arena, Essex in 2000 the venerable UK commentator Ian Darke laid on a little well-placed hyperbole by reminding viewers of Lewis’s unique place in British boxing history, only our second-ever genuine world heavyweight champion, telling us that, “We’ve not seen his like for over a hundred years.”
Darke went onto claim that we’d not see another Lennox for another century but we now have a heavyweight with all the tools to dominate at the top-level in London’s David Haye, who hammered John Ruiz into defeat over nine clubbing rounds at Manchester’s MEN last Saturday night.
WBA title holder Haye, however, fluffed one or two lines during his homecoming inauguration and any future heavyweight attainment could depend on not just the positives taken from the win over Ruiz but, also, by looking at how Haye’s transition to heavyweight has added to, or detracted from, his in-ring modus operandi.
The truly outstanding heavies peak twice. Joe Louis, possibly the greatest of the great big men, was an outstanding fighting machine during the 1936-‘38 period and his first peak culminated in that brutal, and symbolic, single stanza icing of Max Schmeling in June of 1938.
Joe then served his country and his belt was put on ice during 1943 and 1945, with a single round blowout of the overmatched Jonny Davis representing Louis’s only action during this three-year period. Upon his return, Joe’s physical gifts had eroded. ‘The Brown Bomber’, though, cut his cloth and enjoyed some good moments between 1946 and 1948, hitting a second, far less dynamic peak, in the hard-fought wins over Jersey Joe Walcott.
Cassius Clay hit the heights relatively early for a heavyweight when dethroning Sonny Liston in a monumental upset in 1964. A few years, one name change, and some extra inches of muscle later, and we saw Muhammad Ali look like the words greatest-ever pugilist specialist in wins over Cleveland Williams, Ernie Terrell and Zora Folley.
Ali felt that he could not go to war for his country in Vietnam with a clear conscience and he lost his boxing license, and over three years of his physical prime, due to legal problems brought about by his conscientious objection to the conflict.
Ironically, Ali’s second peak, when he truly became Muhammad Ali, saw Ali go to war all too often. There was that first unforgettable, fight with Joe Frazier in 1971, Smokin’ Joe was a great in his own right, and the ugly loss to Ken Norton but Ali, like Louis before him, cut his cloth according to the dictates of age and physical change and emerged as the thinking fighters’ fighter, the man travelled to Kinshasa in 1974 and outdid George Foreman in every department in order to become heavyweight champion for a second time.
This second peak burned brightly one last time in that old-timers epic with Joe Frazier - Hopkins and Jones take note, this is how you do it - before the embers of that flame, which burned brighter than many people’s peaks, carried Ali to one last win, a revenge victory over Leon Spinks in 1978.
Similarly, Lennox Lewis blasted his way to heavyweight title contention by bombing out Donovan ‘Razor’ Ruddock in 1992, he was then crowned WBC titleist after Riddick Bowe famously dropped his WBC belt in the bin rather than attempt to drop Lewis in the ring. Lewis became power mad and his determination to take out everyone saw his skills erode to the point where Oliver McCall could fling a bingo right hand through Lewis’s open guard in their 1994 encounter.
In regrouping from the McCall loss, Lewis found the perfect fusion with his boxing technique crystallising, in this writer’s mind, during the period between 1995 and 1998, when he blasted out Tommy Morrison, Andrew Golota and Shannon Briggs, and also defeated Mercer, McCall and Akinwande. Lewis went onto draw with and defeat Evander Holyfield during 1999 to annex the titles but in my mind his absolute physical peak had come in that earlier period. His clamber to the top had taken its toll and his reign as king saw his weight rise as steadily as his stock.
Lewis became heavier, a lot of that physical dynamism, and derring do, of the early nineties, when he punched gyroscopically against Phil Jackson and Tony Tucker, was long gone so Lewis did what the greats mentioned above did, he made adjustments. Lewis’ second peak came against Michael Grant, Botha and David Tua - with the added coda of the Rahman fights, the beating of Tyson and the last visit to the well versus Vitali Klitschko. Lewis second peak came when he was slightly heavier, during the Holyfield fights his body was growing into this second, more reflective, summit.
Haye, in coming from cruiser, needed to physically flesh out in the heavies and, therefore, he could be in the process of becoming the true heavyweight package, as Lewis was during the early part of this decade. Unlike Lewis, Haye’s physical change is for the better and presents the pugilist with some fascinating opportunities.
Take Haye’s first peak as the Jean Marc Mormeck and Enzo Maccarinelli fights, where he discovered the limits of his endurance to make 200lb and fight effectively. He now has the extra weight to play with and could develop into a fearsome physical specimen and bring about a second, heavyweight, peak. Mirroring the careers of Louis, Ali and Lewis. It could even be said, controversially perhaps, that Haye’s first peak, when he became undisputed cruiserweight Champion, adds an extra dimension to his overall legacy, the previous names became great when regaining lost titles, or in Louis’ case re-igniting his career after serving his country.
Back to the win over Ruiz, Haye’s performance could be best put into context by looking at the previous performance of a returning British heavyweight world title-holder. Lewis, like Haye, came home a hero and the setting had all the hallmarks of British pomp and circumstance, much like Haye’s fight. However, Lewis’ performance against Botha was, arguably, better than Haye’s yet could have been replicated had David finished Ruiz after hurting him early in the first round.
Haye’s best punches in the fight came during those early seconds, the straight one-two that put Ruiz over was impeccably thrown and timed, a potential fight ender; Haye’s reaction to the knockdown, though, was the crucial factor in the fight going a further eight rounds.
Roll back nearly ten years years, Lewis hurts Botha with a right hand in the first round, Francois does a limbo and remains upright so Lewis has a look before deciding that he needs to soften his man up a bit more - “Get them drunk and then mug them”, as Larry Holmes, no slouch himself, once put it.
Conversely, Haye flung himself at the American without giving himself the time to look at Ruiz’s reaction to the punch. In the event, Ruiz’s legs lilted forward, his body followed, but by this point Haye was already on top of him and the only shots David could land were those clubbing haymakers.
Similarly, Haye went with roundhouse shots in each of the following rounds and allowed Ruiz, who should have been gone by this point, to have the odd spot of success, particularly with the right hand in rounds four, five and six. Indeed, Haye created his own problems after flooring Ruiz in the sixth by flinging himself forward, nullifying his own shots and taking a couple of right hands in the process.
When the finishing shots came, at 2:01 of the ninth, Ruiz was still on his feet, the crowd, who had been given value for money, were ecstatic, but there was the lingering thought in this writer’s mind that the fight could have, and should have, ended within the first two rounds.
Consider, Lewis hurt Botha in round one of their fight, he sensed that Botha was not yet ripe for the taking so he continued to soften him up. Lennox then landed a right-left combination to start the rot in round two, Lewis, after doing the work necessary to create the distance needed, then bowled over the final overhand right at the exact moment when Botha could not do a thing about the shot - from the architectural to the agricultural within three sweet blows.
Haye is not Lewis; in some senses, though, he has the talent and physical ability to become as good as Lewis, it all depends on how he blends his physical gifts, speed, power, and agility, with the development of that old heavyweight burden. In short: Haye’s success relies on whether or not he can wield his heavyweight power without becoming enamoured by it. Ruiz, like Botha, presented Haye with a chance to make a clear, clinical statement to the boxing world.
Haye needs to learn from Lennox, he rushed his shots in the Barrett and Ruiz fights. Consequently, a decent straight puncher, such as Vitali or Wlad Klitschko, could counter Haye when David rushes in for the kill. Haye should have stepped back, ascertained just how badly he had hurt Ruiz, taken onboard the fact that the best gap was straight through the middle, and then blitzed his man with carefully picked shots. Sure, Ruiz is tough but a clinical blitz in the first round could have set him up for a second round finish, a la Lewis’s clinical beating of Botha.
A minor quibble, sure, and Haye, unlike Lewis, is all about giving the public what they want so multiple knockdowns, return fire and a clubbing finish may be what Haye wanted to show us. Nevertheless, if greatness is to beckon he needs to know when to snuff them out quickly and efficiently; he had that chance on Saturday only to let it slip by due to a bit of over-exuberance.
Consider, Haye has a fantastic left hook, this was the chief tool when he broke Mormeck down in the champion’s own backyard. Haye chopped away at Mormeck’s body with left hooks. Also, David injured his right hand early in the Valuev fight and relied on movement and his left hand, when he let the left go he caught Valuev clearly and gave himself the balance needed to bring the right hand over. The left hook was not as prevalent in the Ruiz win.
Haye, if he finds the best blend of power and fitness in coming fights, has the tools at his disposal, the Klits have one half each of a top-level resume, a pair of wins over the brothers could see Haye tip the scales of greatness in his favour. Wlad can be blasted aside and there could be scope for derring-do; Vitali, though, is a far stiffer proposition and by this I don’t solely refer to his ring style; Haye may need to box clever in a fight with Vitali. We know he can box the perfect fight; he did it when relieving Nikolay Valuev of the WBA title last November.
Therefore, Haye could use one part Lewis and add his own mixture of gifts or, alternatively, take a dash of the Valuev performance and add the best bits of Mormeck, Maccarinelli and Ruiz, where there was a lot to admire in some of his punching, in order to come up with the necessary concoction – the guy’s ability and versatility buys him those options.
Should the Klits stay in the game, and this part is essential, the door of boxing history could open up for Haye; if Haye, like Lewis before him, can make the minor adjustments necessary to his style and his mentality, and few would bet on him failing to make those adjustments, the Hayemaker could walk through that door, and ask Lewis for some elbowroom in the inn of heavyweight fistic greatness in the process. This all depends on whether Haye learns when and when not to wing those swinging haymakers. Boxing, like great music, relies on softness just as much as it relies on fury.
Coda:
Audley Harrison fights Michael Sprott for the vacant EBU heavyweight title in London this weekend in the final of final chances for the talented former Olympic gold medallist. Audley has longed told us that he is the man to sort out the heavyweight scene and his methods will be borne out at some point in the near future. Well, I feel like Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now here in that I see no method to Big Aud’s madness. Still, Audley has talent; he can pick a shot and Sprott, although the winner in their first fight, has slipped into the mode of European class journeyman in recent years, though it can be easily argued that Harrison, despite plugging away since 2001, is not even in this class as of yet.
Should our incumbent king, David Haye, fancy a quick-fire fight, and should Audley win his rematch with Sprott, then, call me crazy, but a fight between Haye and Harrison would be a good one for the British fans. Villain versus hero, two big mouths, London bragging rights on the line, and Audley, for all his faults, can thread home a lovely counter punch; he also has pedigree, though he’s tried his best to bury it during his enigmatic career.
If Haye does watch the Ruiz fight and decides he needs to work on tightening up in a few areas then Audley Harrison could be the just the man to provide Haye with the sharpener needed. Strangely, I feel that should Harrison survive two rounds with Haye he could provide David with a few problems, giving the ‘Hayemaker’ a chance to iron out a few things, and a local dispute, in the process.
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