Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
Why the world has been waiting for a heavyweight like Haye
Americans customarily regard British heavyweights with the contempt they otherwise reserve for English weather, coffee and jazz.
They have good reason. Before David Haye upset the Russian giant Nikolai Valuev in Germany, only three Britons had held a generally recognised world title.
The first was Bob Fitzsimmons in the 19th century, the second was the over-rated Frank Bruno and the third the under-rated Lennox Lewis.
Lewis’s refusal to do any more than he needed to ensure victory irked the American boxing fraternity who like more flash and action from their fighters. However, the former Olympic champion eventually won their reluctant respect by defeating Evander Holyfield and demolishing a burnt-out Mike Tyson. He then demonstrated impeccable timing outside the ring as well as in by retiring in 2003 with his brains unscrambled and his fortune intact.
Among the heavyweights, only Americans Gene Tunney and Rocky Marciano had previously retired while still world champion.
Now there is Haye, who has unexpectedly thrown open the division at just the right time for the United States where the sport is in danger of dying from boredom.
Before Saturday night, the four main heavyweight belts were held by Valuev and the Klitschko brothers from Ukraine. Neither WBC champion Vitali or younger brother Vladimir are as tedious as Valuev but neither do they hold a licence to thrill.
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Resident Left Field Expert
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Agree with both comments on the merits of Haye as a boxer and the jury is, to say the least, still out. But the point of the article was that he is potentially a box office draw in the United States, whereas the eastern Europeans are not. Also (and as a New Zealander myself I’d love to claim him), Fitzsimmons was born in Cornwall and remains technically a Brit.