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By Thomas Gerbasi - I’m not going to blame David Haye for what happened last Saturday in Hamburg, Germany. Not even his broken toe. The fault for the less than scintillating heavyweight championship fight lies solely with Haye’s opponent, Wladimir Klitschko.
And that’s not a bad thing. At least for the undisputed king of boxing’s big men. Yes, Wlad’s big brother Vitali owns the WBC version of the crown, but for all intents and purposes, it’s little bro who rules the roost. And any critics need to get used to that.
I’m one of those critics. I was convinced that Haye had the style, power, speed, and chutzpah to break the stranglehold Team Klitschko had on the division for years. With varying reasons, I thought Eddie Chambers, Sultan Ibragimov, Ruslan Chagaev, and Calvin Brock were going to do the same thing.
But Haye was the chosen one, a former cruiserweight champion who had obsessed over Klitschko for years, convinced that he was going to succeed where his previous 13 opponents had not. He had a plan, he had the opportunity, and he finally got the deal he wanted.
Then the bell rang and it was the same story told for nearly seven years.
Think about that. Wladimir Klitschko has not lost since he was halted in five rounds by Lamon Brewster in 2004. It’s an amazing run any way you slice it, and he’s done it with a simple, yet effective, strategy – jab, jab, occasional right hand, sometimes a left hook thrown in for good measure. It’s as basic as you can get, but his fundamental mastery of boxing’s basics will someday be celebrated. [Click Here To Read More]
And that’s not a bad thing. At least for the undisputed king of boxing’s big men. Yes, Wlad’s big brother Vitali owns the WBC version of the crown, but for all intents and purposes, it’s little bro who rules the roost. And any critics need to get used to that.
I’m one of those critics. I was convinced that Haye had the style, power, speed, and chutzpah to break the stranglehold Team Klitschko had on the division for years. With varying reasons, I thought Eddie Chambers, Sultan Ibragimov, Ruslan Chagaev, and Calvin Brock were going to do the same thing.
But Haye was the chosen one, a former cruiserweight champion who had obsessed over Klitschko for years, convinced that he was going to succeed where his previous 13 opponents had not. He had a plan, he had the opportunity, and he finally got the deal he wanted.
Then the bell rang and it was the same story told for nearly seven years.
Think about that. Wladimir Klitschko has not lost since he was halted in five rounds by Lamon Brewster in 2004. It’s an amazing run any way you slice it, and he’s done it with a simple, yet effective, strategy – jab, jab, occasional right hand, sometimes a left hook thrown in for good measure. It’s as basic as you can get, but his fundamental mastery of boxing’s basics will someday be celebrated. [Click Here To Read More]
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