Haye vs. Klitschko and the Future of Boxing
Plain and simple, heavyweight boxing has been in the toilet for a while now. The uninspiring two-headed Ukrainian giant known as the Klitschko brothers has ruled the roost since the retirement of Lennox Lewis four years ago. There has been only one, ONE, marquee heavyweight fight in this decade, Lewis vs. Tyson in 2002, and even that was a travesty based on an extremely shot Iron Mike’s off-the-chart name value. ↵↵In truth there hasn’t been a meaningful heavyweight championship fight since the two Lewis/Holyfield fights in 1999. And you know the old saying -- as go the heavyweights, so goes the sport. Boxing has been extremely lucky to have a cash cow like Oscar De La Hoya to generate high-profile events that grabbed the attention of the mainstream sports media during this deep heavyweight drought.↵
↵↵De La Hoya, however, may have just ended his career by going out on his stool to Manny Pacquiao, a situation that led many followers of the fight game to wonder – can boxing, an enterprise that always seems on perpetual verge of collapse anyway, survive in a tough financial climate without the Golden Boy and without a compelling heavyweight division?↵
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↵It’s fitting then that just over a week after De La Hoya’s destruction at the hands of Pacquiao, we hear rumors of what may prove to be the return of the heavyweights to center stage in the form of a fight between British sensation David Haye and the WBC heavyweight champion, the recently unretired Vitali Klitschko. And these are not your typical boxing rumors floating around from shadowy, unsubstantiated sources. This rumor comes straight from the mouth of one of the principals, Haye himself, who has told the British media that the deal is all but done for him to fight Vitali. What’s more, come fight time, he plans to have none other than Lennox Lewis, the last undisputed heavyweight champion, in his corner.↵
↵↵The symbolism is blunt as a right-hand lead. At this point, given that many of you reading this article likely never have even heard of David Haye, it may seem ridiculous to start positing him and his fight with 37-year-old Vitali Klitschko as an important turning point for the sport of boxing. But mark my words -- it will be. The fight is set for June in London, with Wembley Stadium the targeted arena. If it goes off (there is still no confirmation from Vitali’s camp) it will be the first heavyweight fight of worldwide interest since Lewis/Tyson. And should he manage a victory, it will make Haye, a charismatic, good-looking, articulate and (this is the important part) BIG PUNCHING heavyweight, an international superstar with a natural date ahead of him against the current recognized heavyweight king, Vitali’s brother, Wladimir Klitschko.↵
↵↵Will Haye, who has at least some of the attributes necessary to become the British Tyson (the swagger, the pop, not to mention the bizarrely feminine voice) manage to captivate an American audience? It’s unclear. But if he beats Vitali in June, he most definitely will captivate a world audience, and an ensuing bout between him and Wlad Klitschko would become a gigantic event with the power to completely reinvigorate heavyweight fighting. With no American in the mix, this may be a phenomenon that is largely ignored in the United States, which could mark a strange but perhaps welcome era for the sport, one where Las Vegas ceases to be the world’s capital of big-time boxing.↵
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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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