27.04.07 – By James Slater: Tonight, at Wembley Arena, London, Britain’s David Haye made a successful debut up at heavyweight. “The Hayemaker,” now 19-1 (18) made the move from the cruiserweight boxing division with some ease against Poland’s Tomasz Bonin, now 37-2 (20). And though he still intends to drop back down to the 200 pound weight class, in search of a world title there, the heavyweights were definitely served notice by Haye’s fine performance of a few hours ago.
All it took David was a single round to dispatch the seven years older man. Coming out immediately with a hard and fast left jab to Bonin’s head, Haye put his punches together in a relaxed and mature manner. It didn’t take long before he had the Pole in serious trouble. A perfect left jab, followed by a flush right hand to the head, decked Bonin with less than a minute gone. Tomasz got back up, but David was in no mood to let him off the hook..
Bonin went down again, almost as soon as he’d regained his feet. This time, though, referee Ian John Lewis issued no count, as the thirty-three year old had been more or less bundled down. A second, genuine knockdown was forthcoming for Tomasz, however. Another swift left jab landed, as did another jarring right hand to the head, and he was on the mat yet again. Quickly up once more and showing heart, Bonin’s short night was nearly at an end.
The finish came as Haye chased his man across the ring, letting loose with a barrage of shots – in particular a right uppercut to the jaw and a high left hand to the head. With no other choice, the ref dived in to save Bonin from further punishment. The time was one minute and forty-five seconds. This marked only the second time Tomasz had ever been stopped as a pro, the other time being a ninth round TKO defeat at the hands of Audley Harrison.
Okay, Haye didn’t beat a top name in the heavyweight division, but Bonin had been ranked at number eleven in the WBC prior to his being despatched so efficiently tonight. By scoring this win, his eighteenth KO victory, “The Hayemaker” made a huge step towards making a name for himself in his second weight division.
Presuming he can capture a belt at 200 pounds and then makes his home among the big guys, we just might have a young, exciting and capable heavyweight contender from the U.K. Who knows, one who might be able to go all the way to the very top – and in so doing bring back some of the thrill the heavyweight division has been lacking recently.
The future certainly looks good for David Haye, very good.