Haye fulfils heavyweight dream in Germany
Ian McNeilly in Nuremburg: David Haye is the new WBA heavyweight champion after defeating Russia’s Nikolai Valuev by way of a majority decision in front of a packed house at the Nuremburg Arena.
Spanish judge Juan Garcia Reyes called it 114-114 whilst the other two, Tom Miller of the USA and Italy’s Stefano Carroza both tallied the bout at 116-112 in favour of the Londoner. For what it’s worth, I had Haye just up by 115-114 and this was only due to a sensational last round where Valuev was, for the first time in his career, stumbling unsteadily down Queer Street.
Most people I had spoken to in the build up to the fight shared my view that there was little question that Haye could outbox the giant Russian but doubted whether the notoriously full-blooded Englishman could stick to the necessary game plan of darting in and out, landing enough scoring blows to snatch the rounds. We should never have doubted him as he followed the plan to a tee, exhibiting prodigious defensive skills in slipping Valuev’s metronomic jab and regularly spinning out of trouble when the ‘Beast from the East’ threatened to pin him down. He did cut things finely though, especially considering the reputation of judges’ scoring in Germany and there were several rounds where one had to ask if Haye had actually done enough work to deserve the nod.
Although there was substantial support for the champion in what is supposedly his ‘home town’ (he still very much resides in St Petersburg, in truth), it was almost like fighting at a posh York Hall for the Hayemaker and by the time the bout started around 11pm local time, the atmosphere was electric. Haye entered in prophetic fashion to ‘Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now’ whilst Valuev’s ringwalk seemed interminable, accompanied by some horrific and presumably teutonic soft rock band. Haye did not make eye contact during the instructions.
When the pair squared off, the size difference really hit home – though not too often in literal terms for Haye. The challenger took the first two sessions on my card as the pattern for the rest of the whole fight, the last round excepted, was set within the opening seconds. Valuev walked monotonously forward, Haye spent 90% of the time out of range and made sporadic assaults upon the champion, favouring jabs to the body in the early stages whilst winging in the odd eye-catching hook to the head.
The third session was shared, Valuev enjoying rare success by way of a left hook which drew a nod of acceptance from Haye. The Londoner responded with a one-two and then a decent, hard right hook.
Haye’s workrate dropped in the fourth and fifth rounds, both of which I gave to Valuev. The challenger displayed super defensive skills, spinning out of a corner and avoiding Valuev’s work on more than one occasion but Haye didn’t offer enough of his own attack to merit reward.
Haye nicked the sixth on my card with an impressive last thirty seconds in which he scored several times, trumping the largely unsuccessful though relentless walking down attempted by Valuev.
A left hook in the seventh seemed to jar Haye but there was cause for some relief for the visiting fans when the pair exchanged hooks and Haye’s equilibrium remained intact. Although Haye did well with a rat-a-tat three punch combination off the ropes just before the bell, it wasn’t enough to win the round and at this stage, matters were level for me.
Haye’s offensive workrate dropped to almost nothing in the eighth and although he typically rallied in the last seconds of the round it would have been difficult not to give it to Valuev who had made all the effort to engage his opponent.
The ninth went to Haye narrowly again; he opened nicely with a right hook and impressive with an orthodox one-two to which Valuev responded with a rare scoring head shot, a left hook. Haye’s right hook before the bell sealed the points.
Haye took the tenth – although he was hardly a whirlwind of action he landed more scoring shots again, having particular success with the left hook. The pair exchanged hooks as each tried to sway the judges before the bell which got the crowd on their feet.
Valuev took the eleventh for me as he still marched forward trying to impose his will and size on the comparatively diminutive Englishman. Haye was on his bike almost exclusively and a noticeable spurt from him at the end didn’t quite do enough to take the points.
At the start of the twelfth and last round, matters were all even on my card. Valuev still chased, Haye opened with a right hook, Valuev got through with a right to the body. Suddenly the challenger burst into life with two hard one-two combinations, the latter of which definitely hurt the soon to be ex-champion. For the first time in the contest Haye poured on the aggression as the fans went apoplectic. Both hands were thrown as Valuev tried to convince ringsiders, unsuccessfully, that he hadn’t really been hurt. A really big round from Haye was franked by a right hook at the bell as Haye retreated with one arm in the air, clearly and rightly believing he’d done enough. Valuev’s enormous head was almost sunken into his chest after the final bell, such was the negativity of his body language. He seemed to know what was coming.
When pay-a-fortune-as-you-go MC Michael Buffer said “from London, England”, not many in attendance heard the following words. Team Haye and a significant amount of hangers-on went potty at ring centre with the realisation that their moment had finally come.
What we didn’t realise in crediting Haye with executing a perfect game plan was that he hadn’t planned to do it all along. He said afterwards that he felt he might have broken his right hand, perhaps as early as the second round.
“I didn't plan to do that, I trained to be more aggressive but I damaged my hand so I had to take my foot off the gas and win it clever. Use my head and win rounds and it worked out. I'm pretty sure it's broken but it's a small price to pay for being the heavyweight champion of the world. His head is solid, the hardest thing I've ever hit. It's like hitting a solid brick wall."
Haye said he was now free to fight either (or indeed both) of the Klitschko brothers but will is likely to have to fight John Ruiz first, the WBA’s mandatory challenger, who impressed on the undercard stopping German Adnan Serin, delivering a systematic beating before matters were halted in the middle of the seventh. Ruiz looked in great nick actually and weighed in at 16st 2lbs, his lightest for more than six years.
Haye said he would love to accommodate Ruiz in a hometown defence, perhaps at the O2 Arena.
In boxing’s equivalent of Pat Cash clambering over seats at Wimbledon, Haye then performed a bit of derring-do, crossing ringside tables to do an interview with the boys from BBC Radio. He told them:"I'd like to thank the British fans for their support, it made me feel I could not let Valuev win.”
"People said I'd get booed, but we had more Brits at the fight than Germans. The British fans really went beyond the call of duty coming out here.
"It's a lifelong ambition fulfilled. I said I'd be heavyweight champion of the world when I was a little kid and here I am. It does feel slightly surreal, but it's the start of bigger things now.
"Anyone who knows anything about boxing can clearly see I won that fight pretty comfortably," said Haye.
Haye rubbished Valuev's suggestions that he had spent the fight running away, proposing that he "hadn't hurt me at any time".
"If he could have used the same tactics against me, he would have used them," said Haye, who now has 23 wins from 24 fights.
"It was always going to be a tricky fight, but it was as easy as I made it. I counteracted everything he tried to do and outclassed him in there.
"Just in case there were any doubters, I put in that big last round to stamp it home, although I had to really keep my discipline and stay focused."
Whatever he chooses to do now, he deserves all the plaudits that come his way.
George Groves won a comfortable 80-72 decision on all three scorecards against Konstantin Makhankov. He looked good in the process and had been told by his corner to ensure he got the rounds in so he could practice some of the plans they had been developing in the gym.
