By Mark Vester
At the O2 Arena in Greenwich, London, former undisputed cruiserweight champion David Haye (22-1, 21KOs) re-debuted in the heavweight division and blasted Monte Barrett (34-7, 20KOs) down five-times on route to a fifth-round knockout win. The win sets the stage for a possible showdown with either Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko in 2009.
Haye came out cautious in the first round, allowing Barrett to lead while he played the role of the counter-puncher and used his quicker hands to pick his shots. They traded early at the start of the second. Haye's quicker hands continued to present problems for Haye, but he remained very cautious. In the final round, some of Barrett's punches rattled Haye as he got trapped in the corner.
Barrett continued to press forward in the fourth, but got caught with a huge right hand from Haye and continued to come forward and throw punches. A big left hook sent Barrett down as he was pulling back. Moments later another shot to the side of head sent Barrett down for the second time. Haye tried to finish him off, but Monte was able to survive as time ran out.
They came to the middle of the ring in the fourth with Barrett shooting a jab. Haye came in with another left and the two began to trade punches, leaving Monte open and a solid right sent Barrett down for the third time. He beat the counte and Haye continued to press forward. Barrett got caught with a combination that was followed by a right uppercut in the final fifteen seconds to go down for the fourth time in the contest.
At the start of the fifth, they came right back out to the middle of the ring. As Haye slipped down, Barrett nailed him with a punch and lost a point for hitting Haye while he was down. Moments later a vicious combination dropped Barrett down for a fifth time in the contest and the fight was waved off.
Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingscene@hotmail.com
