By Edward Chaykovsky
Promoter David Higgins of Duco Events, who handle undefeated heavyweight Joseph Parker, is not surprised that David Haye signed on to face Tony Bellew on March 4th at the O2 Arena in London.
This coming Saturday in New Zealand, Parker will face Andy Ruiz for the vacant WBO heavyweight world title. The World Boxing Organization had issued an order which required the winner to make a mandatory defense against Haye within 120 days.
Haye was due to take a stay busy fight in December and then a fight with Parker-Ruiz winner. His decision to fight Bellew, who is moving up from cruiserweight, was unexpected by some and expected by others.
Higgins has long felt that Ruiz is a much tougher opponent than Haye - who returned to boxing at the start of this year after being away from the ring for over three years.
"It proves Haye is looking for the easy route; easy money," Higgins said to Fairfax Media. "That's the character of the man.
"We believe Andy Ruiz is a far tougher opponent than David Haye. Haye has been out of the ring for some time. His last two opponents were muppets and against [Wladimir] Klitschko he looked average. We regard Haye as an easier fight - and if we were to fight him in the UK we would almost have home advantage because so many people don't like him up there."
There is no rematch clause involved in the Parker vs. Ruiz encounter, so there was nothing preventing Haye from facing the winner next.
"In modern boxing rematch clauses are like an insurance policy meaning you can cover and hedge against losses both financially and opportunity," Higgins said. "There is no rematch clause here. That makes it more exciting in that it's all on the line and the loser has no guarantee of anything and the winner will have total licence to proceed as they wish."
