Round by Round – Weekly Boxing Notes

Haye Now, Haye Now…↵
↵Can David Haye hack it at heavyweight? That’s a question that’s on the minds of most boxing fans these days, as they hopefully chart Haye’s stratospheric rise and wonder if he’s going to turn out to be the British Tyson and reclaim some dignity for heavyweight boxing in the process.
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↵Oscar De La Hoya is betting that Haye is the real deal – Golden Boy signed Haye to a big-money five-year deal this past week, making him one of the few name heavyweights in the Golden Boy stable. Haye, the former undisputed cruiserweight champ who repeatedly has stated his ambition to “clean up the heavyweight division,” came out this week with his three-fight plan – i.e., two tune-ups at heavyweight and then wham, bring on Klitschko and the belts, which means the much-anticipated Klitschko/Haye tangle could be happening as early as spring of ‘09.
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↵For his part, Wlad seems down with that schedule, and why wouldn’t he be? I assume that he digs money like the rest of us, and this thing is shaping up to be a genuine gold mine, the first heavyweight fight since Lennox/Tyson to be must-see TV. Like all fight fans, I hope it happens and I hope it’s worth our while, but I must say I also hope Sam Peter gets another crack at Wlad first. (By the way, if you haven’t yet seen David Haye in action, check out his KO of Jean-Marc Mormeck from last November – holms has some serious pop).↵

↵ ↵Zab’s Title Grab↵The reason there’s no big-time fight action this weekend is because the big-time fight that was scheduled for Saturday – Shane Mosley v. Zab Judah on PPV – was cancelled when Super Judah had a “shower accident” in Vegas that resulted in about a thousand stitches in his arm (“shower accident in Vegas” for some reason conjures Benicio De Toro in Fear and Loathing to my mind). Now Zab has found himself another dance partner – Josh Clottey –for an August 2nd fight that amazingly will be for a legitimate title, the IBF belt at 147. That title was vacated by Antonio Margarito to make his date with Cotto, and so now in a standard bit of sanctioning-organization bingo, the IBF has anointed Judah/Clottey a title bout. I’m sure that Zab will be the favorite going in, but watch out for Josh Clottey, the Ghanaian-born stylist who comes by way of the Bronx. With Judah a proud and vocal Brooklynite, this bout will no doubt be billed as a Battle of the Boroughs, and what with Zab’s inactivity and injury and Clottey’s legit skills and moxie, I’d actually make the Bronx a narrow favorite in this one – say, oh, Clottey at -140. Most people probably think of Clottey as the last man to fight (and beat) Chico Corrales before he died, but in my mind he’s the guy who was beating the bejabbers out of Tony Margarito before he broke his hand in the fourth round (sample a few rounds of that fight below).↵

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