by James Slater – Like him or not, you have to admit that U.K boxing promoter Frank Warren speaks his mind. Known for not always saying good things about fighters, even the men he has worked with, Warren has come out swinging at WBA heavyweight champ David Haye; at least that’s the way the things Warren has had to say will most likely be interpreted by Haye and his fans.
Speaking with Mail online, Warren began by saying something that practically everyone agrees with – how a Haye-Nikolai Valuev rematch, which has been talked about, is a very bad idea indeed!
“If Haye beats [John] Ruiz, then Sauerland [promotions], who he’s signed a deal with, will enforce a rematch with Valuev,” Warren told Mail online. “I think that would be a disaster for boxing, but the rematch clause is there in the contract. It was a dreadful fight the first time around, I don’t care what anyone says.
“Either guy could have been given the decision, it was the most boring fight ever.”
Though Warren is absolutely correct when he says a Haye-Valuev II would be bad for boxing, it is questionable whether or not the promoter would be saying all the negative things he is saying about Haye’s winning performance from last November if he was promoting the charismatic Londoner. Some experts, after all, lauded the way Haye showed patience, stuck to a game-plan and outboxed the giant to win on points.
Still, though some did admire Haye’s maturity and boxing skill, we don’t want to see a part-two; as Warren states. What we do want is for Haye to face one or both of the Klitschko brothers. Warren is most doubtful Haye would have much of a chance against either man if he does fight them, however.
“The only way for Haye to get to fight one of the Klitschkos is to pay Valuev to step aside,” Warren said. “Valuev will then meet the winner. I don’t know about Haye being the saviour of the heavyweight division – I want to see him fight the Klitschkos first. The Klitschkos would be too big and too strong for Haye. I don’t see him beating either of them.
“I don’t see Haye even making a dent. If Monte Barrett can put Haye on the floor then the Klitschkos certainly can.”
It’s likely a good number of readers of this web site will also agree with what Warren has had to say about Haye and his chances against Waldimir and Vitali. Most fans do seem to think the brothers would be too strong for the former cruiserweight king. But that’s the thing: we all want to find out for sure! Haye has done so much talking about what he will do to the Klitschkos, we NEED to see if he can back it up.
Needless to say, if Haye can do so; Warren, and a good many other experts, will have to admit that they were very wrong about the reigning WBA heavyweight champ and his talents. But will we ever get to see the fights? Certainly not if John Ruiz beats Haye on Saturday night in Manchester. And it seems more and more fans are beginning to feel this could happen.