The soon-to-go-to purse bids clash between long reigning lineal heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and mandatory challenger Tyson Fury, is set to be one of the biggest heavyweight clashes involving a British fighter since David Haye’s own ill-fated Wladimir challenge and trip to Hamburg 4 years ago – which resulted in the now infamous and oft ridiculed “Toe-Gate” saga in which Haye displayed his injured little toe to the world as “evidence” of his poor performance immediately after the fight.
The fact of the matter remains that like so many before him, Haye came up short against “Dr.Steelhammer” – yet ahead of Fury’s attempt at dethroning the younger Klitschko brother, he has seen fit to speak out and scotch the giant Mancunian’s chances – going so far in ‘The Sun’ as to suggest the fight won’t even take place – saying he’ll be “very surprised” to see Fury actually get in the ring to fight the Ukrainian champion.
It is my provocative to produce a debate on the current status for each division within boxing. In some divisions it is quite clear who is number one but who takes the best punch and who gives it? 
If the road to the top in any sport is beset with challenges and hard physical graft, then boxing must rank amongst the toughest. But despite the obstacles to greatness, boxing continues to make people rich and famous, just as surely as it leaves most fighters with questionable futures. In general terms, boxing is the oldest and most maligned sport in the world today, but that doesn’t stop the support, and it certainly doesn’t stop the money. Most eyes used to be on the Heavyweights – the blue ribbon event – but a continued dominance since the Klitschko brothers gained the titles in…erm… 1694, has brought attention to the other weights, culminating in the Mayweather deal; which still beggars belief in most third world countries and gives promoters across the USA cold sweats on dark nights. Floyd is a boxing freak though, a supreme talent, and a fighter like him only comes along once every 25 years. We owe it to ourselves to make the best of the time he’s giving us in the ring. But, like the saying goes “Make hay while the sun shines” and that sun is dipping low on Floyd no matter how hard we want to tell ourselves it’s not true. 