Saturday, July 2nd, 2011...3:45 pm
It’s Fight Night! Boxing Purists Hope Rusty Haye Can Find a Way
On Dec 5th, 1998, Wladimir Klitschko was stopped by 24-13 (win-loss) tub of goo Ross Purity. He never avenged the loss. Subsequently, the Ukrainian wunderkind was decimated by both Corrie Sanders, in March of 2003, and Lamont Brewster, in April of 2004.
Excuse me if I choke on the laudatory comments heaped on the timid heavyweight champ.
His effort against Sultan Ibramigov, in February of 2008, was the most disgracefully impoverished showing ever registered by a purported heavyweight champ.
Klitschko has brought the division to its knees with his underwhelming showings. The fact he has faced the worst collection of challengers in the divisions history serves to undermine both his credibility and his claim to greatness.
Make no mistake; I’ll be cheering for undersized David Haye tonight. Boxing needs the charisma and passion of the Englishman in order to ignite interest in the dormant class.
A serious concern is the admission by Haye that he has not sparred in the past three weeks. My experience is that a fighter would only lay off combat for that extended period if he was nursing an injury. Politics and the past meant Haye could not postpone this bout, not after dodging the Ukrainian for two years.
Haye has four wins at heavyweight, his most impressive a savage beat down of John Ruiz last year. He is being bet heavily, currently on offer at a skimpy +200 (Klitschko at -170) and is in with a chance if he is fit and healthy.
Comments are closed.