By Mark Vester
At Arena Nürnberger Versicherung in Nuremberg, Germany, David Haye (23-1, 21KOs) won a twelve round decision over Nikolai Valuev (50-2, 34KOs) to capture the WBA heavyweight title. The scores were 114-114 for the draw, 116-112 and 116-112 for the winner Haye.
It was interesting that Haye appeared to be the crowd favorite. A lot of British fans were in the audience to watch the event. The crowd was very loud and very hot for the fight.
Haye was circling around in the first, sticking and moving to Valuev's body. he learned in the first round how hard it is to land a punchg on Valuev's head when he missed a huge right hand. Haye able to land a sneaky punch inside. Valuev worked the jab until the bell. Haye was back on the move in the second round. Haye landed a big shot to Valuev's head but the giant just shook it off. Valuev came out with the jab in the third. Haye stayed on the back foot, ducking away from any punches. Haye landed a left hand as Valuev came in. Haye was able to land another big a moment later. Valuev made the mistake of chasing while trying to land his jab. Haye was able to land a very sneaky uppercut. Haye landed a right hand at the end.
The fourth round saw Valuev start to really press forward. He was trying to pin Haye against the ropes. Haye slipped away but Valuev managed to land a few glancing blows. Haye was taking more chances by trying to come to land big shots. Valuev continued to press more in the fifth, pushing Haye's back and trying to work a hard jab. Haye was countering but not often. Valuev managed to get off with a combo by catching Haye against the ropes.
Valuev tried jabbing down to Haye's body at the start of the sixth. Valuev was pressing more and closed the gap well with Haye missing a lot of his punches. Valuev was back to pressing the fight in the seventh. Haye was dancing around but couldn't land many punches. Valuev was jabbing as they trading lefts. Haye was not busy enough in many of the rounds. The rounds became much closer because Haye was not active enough. They traded a few punches at the bell.
Haye was baiting Valueve to come inside in the eight. Haye was feinting his punches. Valuev did not fall for the feints. Valuev continued to chase him and landing the jab. Haye landed a few glancing punches. They traded some punches at the end. In the ninth round, Valuev tried to go jabbing back to the body. Haye moved around often and landed a good right in the second minute. Valuev just stayed on his jab and followed Haye around.
The tenth round was more of the same, Haye circled around while Valuev followed while jabbing. Haye landed a good quick right hand and later landed another chopping right hand. Haye was outhustling the giant with counters in the final minute. Valuev back to pressing in the eleventh, trying to land something big upstairs. They traded right hands during a quick exchange. Valuev went back to the jab. They traded a set of punches in the final thirty seconds.
Valuev started jabbing at the start of the twelfth round. Haye tried to land some stiff jabs of his own. Valuev was on a mission in the final round. He was going for broke but Haye was staying away and trying to counter with a huge shot. Valuev was jabbing to the body. Valuev was rocked very bad in the final minute by a hard combination from Haye. Haye started to go for the finish but the ref jumped in for whatever reason to break them apart. Haye managed to land some more hard punches until the final bell with Valuev on shaky legs after being very hurt during the round.
Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingvester@gmail.com