By Terence Dooley
Tweet wars have become the norm during boxing's silly season, many fighters are left kicking their heels due to a lack of in-ring activity and with little to occupy them it is no wonder that the likes of Amir Khan, Tim Bradley, David Haye and Audley Harrison are resorting to tweet attacks – men cannot live by Playstations alone. The Luddites amongst us are becoming increasingly nonplussed by these viral wars; we would prefer to see the boxers settle their differences in a physical manner, a fight perhaps.
Audley Harrison, 27-4 (20 early), recently responded to a David Haye tweet with a devastating twitter of his own. WBA heavyweight champion Haye told Harrison to 'Shut the f*ck up' earlier this week and informed 'A-Force' that he'll be left with a costly medical bill should the two ever fight.
Haye’s message was prompted by statements from Harrison and Eddie Hearn, son of Barry Hearn, who both claim that Haye has received a substantial offer to defend his WBA title against Audley at Manchester’s MEN Arena on November 13th, this claim was met with a deafening silence from Haye’s representatives.
Harrison, who won Olympic gold in 2000, has consequently accused Haye of swerving the mooted fight, the 38-year-old southpaw, who now calls himself ‘The Hayebreaker’, believes that David has no option but to face him due to the unavailability of the Klitschko brothers, Vitali fights Shannon Briggs in October and Wlad rematches Sam Peter on September 11th, Tomasz Adamek's recent struggle against Michael Grant, in which the Pole was cut by the right eye, and the general lack of depth in the sport's former flagship, but now just flagging, division.
'Keep talking!' twittered Audley, who knocked out Michael Sprott in the final stanza to claim the European title in April of this year. 'You have your sidekick [Adam Booth] wasting our time working out a deal, yet you won't sign. Adamek is cut and Valuev is injured. Hope your not waiting for James Toney this weekend. You really are becoming a joke blood. You are in for a big surprise. My left hand will connect with your chin at some point and you will be OUT COLD. 30 chin-ups are not going to protect your chin.
MAN UP and sign!'
A source close to Haye, 24-1 (22 KOs), has told Boxingscene that Haye’s current caginess is a deliberate tactic and that both Haye and Adam Booth, Haye’s manager and trainer, prefer to keep quiet until fights are signed, sealed and delivered. Indeed, Haye has been back in the gym for a while now and is said to be close to fighting shape, an announcement is in the pipeline and there should be some real news on his second WBA title defence within the next two weeks – the 29-year-old’s maiden defence saw him pummel John Ruiz to defeat over nine rounds back in March.
Furthermore, the source confirmed that Haye has recently been enjoying the role of doting dad, Mrs Hayemaker gave birth to a daughter at the end of May, and that Booth has also welcomed a new addition into his family, his wife gave birth during the summer. However, both men have continued to make plans for Haye’s next move and, as mentioned, will reveal the details of Haye’s second title defence when everything is finalised.
In the meantime, the Hayemaker party line is to say nothing until there is something worth saying, though the source did confirm that Haye updates his Twitter, Facebook and Myspace pages himself and was personally responsible for telling Audley to put a sock in it. Both Haye and Booth value their independence and one can assume that they will not to be pushed into making an announcement until they are good and ready.
A Haye-Harrison fight, while not the fight needed to sort out the future of the division, would be a domestic blockbuster and many overseas fans would tune in for the pure novelty value of watching a devalued, ridiculed and reviled former Olympic hero chance his arm, should it hold up, against a heavyweight title-holder who, in the eyes of some, has failed to deliver in recent years and is in danger of becoming an also-ran in the race to dethrone a Klit.
For now, though, the first wave of tweets are behind us and neither fighter has struck a meaningful blow, the major loser thus far is the sport of boxing, which is creaking under the weight of a recent ‘All tweet and no action’ approach to negotiating fights. However, Haye’s pending announcement should draw a line under the virtual verbalisms and give the fans an indication of when and where they can next see him in action.
Conversely, Hayemaker’s 'say nothing' approach could be seen as a refreshing counter-balance to the modern phenomenon of multiple press releases, oft-repeated snippets of misinformation, recycled news and empty rhetoric. Although Haye’s critics, who are growing in number and vitriol, will point out that Haye shot to heavyweight prominence by verbally baiting both Klits and that his recent silence reflects badly on the Bermondsey-born boxer.
Time will tell.
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