After months of idiocy and immaturity David Haye and Dereck Chisora have finally found themselves face-to-face in the ring and Haye’s victory tonight marks what would appear to be the final act in what has for the most-part been a pretty sorry affair both for British Boxing and for British sport as a whole.
It is almost unfair though to group tonight’s fight between the pair in with the rest of the frustratingly moronic pre-fight saga, as the fight itself was fast, fierce, compelling and generally speaking fought in completely the right manner.
Boxing is meant to be a sport of honour, bravery and skill and thankfully all three of these were on show tonight. David Haye, the eventual winner by way of knock-out, may have looked a little ring-rusty in terms of his fight-night fitness but his hands were as quick and as strong as ever and Chisora, bustling as usual, was busy, focused and intent on trying to fight on the front foot and on his own terms.
Haye’s tactics may well have proved successful courtesy of the extra fire, speed and conviction that he possesses and Chisora lacks a little but credit must be given to ‘Del-Boy’ for a brave performance which may have been a little too strategically predictable but still showcased an admirable faith in his own ability and perhaps more skill than we have seen from him on occasion, which thankfully Haye was quick to recognise in his physical and verbal post-fight reactions.
All too often boxing matches are remembered for moments of mindless behaviour, rule-breaking or controversial results and though many may have expected this fight to be up there with the most memorable in terms of indiscretions, it was a great relief to see both fighters concentrating on what they’re actually both very good at; Boxing.
The problem with Haye and Chisora though is that in spite of one night of admirable boxing and sportsmanship there still remains a streak of stupidity about the pair and it isn’t easy to forget just how appallingly they behaved at times in the lead up to the fight.
Chisora has always flirted with unjustifiable arrogance and petulance but never more so than when he stepped from behind the interview desk at last year’s Press Conference in Munich and physically fought with Haye before hurling a torrent of disgusting verbal threats at his ‘nemesis the particular highlight of which, or lowlight as the case may be, came when he said he would “physically burn” Haye.
This enormous lack of grace and dignity has though at times been matched by Haye who was provocative and completely irresponsible in his approach to verbally inciting Chisora’s advances in Munich before too getting too hefty a rush of blood and of monumental lunacy to the head when physically brawling with Chisora.
For all his talent, which much to my personal delight he demonstrated on fight-night against Chisora, Haye is still a sore loser and remains at times painfully wedged firmly up his own rear-end. Tonight he may have done the business with the gloves and with his ability to demonstrate the ‘gift of the gab’, but all too often in the past he has made a complete and utter backside of himself when really he is capable of great eloquence when compared to the vast majority of competitors in his sport.
I am able to get my head around boxing’s pre-fight fanfares and the need for talking a big-game and causing a stir in order to get a push up the ladder, after all had Haye not got through his full range of tomfoolery when he decided it was time to step up to the Heavyweight Division then he wouldn’t have got such a swift shot at the title and he may not have become a World Heavyweight Champion. What does bug me beyond belief though is the level of thuggery, impetuousness and ignorance that both Haye and Chisora obviously felt it necessary to demonstrate on that fateful day in Munich which led to tonight’s battle.
If they both wanted a fight with one another then they could have had one. What I mean to say is that they could simply have left it at verbals in Munich and arranged a fight themselves, to be carried out in a ring with a referee and a scoring panel of judges just as they experienced tonight. It could have been that easy and both men would come out of tonight with their head’s held high, with the reputation of British Heavyweight Boxing still well in tact and with a far greater chance of fulfilling their remaining ambitions in the world of boxing.
As it is though, they tonight have managed only to perform some damage limitation. The damage to their own names and that of British Boxing was already done after ‘Munich-Gate’ and in terms of their personal reputations the damage may well prove to be irreversible. Haye has tonight managed to prove he is still a very talented boxer no matter what weight division he fights in and Chisora has further enhanced his reputation as an offensive and exciting boxer to watch but will this be enough to secure them the fights they desire against the Klitschko’s?
I enjoyed tonight and was glad to see Haye and Chisora demonstrate something dangerously close to sanity and dignity but I hope the Klitschko’s turn down any future opportunities to fight against the pair. The fights would surely make compelling viewing and I happen to think that they have a good chance of materialising over the next year but as far as I’m concerned Haye and Chisora have both disgraced themselves too greatly over the past twelve months for them to be deserving of a shot at the titles of the sometimes annoyingly squeaky-clean Ukranian brothers.
For all their high and mighty nonsense it is hard to deny that the Klitschko’s are still the men to beat in the Heavyweight division and it is more than fair to say that their teachers-pet like behaviour is by far the lesser of two evils when compared with some of the disgusting behaviour of the two protagonists of the current British Heavyweight scene.
We now await to see whether tonight’s showing has earned bad boys Chisora and Haye enough brownie points for them to get the fights they so desire, only time will tell.