Haye making noise at heavyweight
AP Photo/Akira Suemori David Haye can talk a mean fight, but he has the fists to back it up.
Heavyweight titleholder David Haye knows how to fight and he knows how to talk a big game. His punching power and that mouth are why fight fans have such a strong reaction to him, whatever their opinion is, and that's just how he likes it.
"I want people to have a strong opinion of me one way or the other," Haye said during an interview with ESPN.com. "I want them to either love me or hate me. Anything in the middle, they're not paying for the pay-per-view. I couldn't care less which it is, as long as they're paying for it and tuning in, and passionate about it. I'm getting their adrenaline pumping. That's why I'm in the game."
England's Haye survived a knockdown and went on to stop Jean-Marc Mormeck in the seventh round in Mormeck's hometown of Paris in November 2007 to win the cruiserweight title. After a second-round destruction of Enzo Maccarinelli in a 2008 unification fight, Haye left cruiserweight to campaign at heavyweight.
Two fights later, with a bit of controversy mixed in, Haye (23-1, 21 KOs) went to Germany and won a majority decision against Nikolai Valuev to claim a slice of the heavyweight title despite suffering a broken right hand -- his money hand -- in the second round.
Haye, who is 6-foot-3, 217 pounds, looked tiny compared with the 7-foot, 316-pound Valuev, but was able to outbox him to win the close call.
"He was big, he was heavy," Haye said. "He was 100 pounds heavier than me. People wanted to know how I would make adjustments. Would I be rusty [after a year layoff]? I proved a lot of people wrong."
He also put himself in fine company, joining Evander Holyfield as the only cruiserweight champions to successfully move up and win a heavyweight crown.
"That was the mission and mission accomplished, 100 percent," Haye, 29, said. "It's all I have ever wanted. It's just the start of things to come."
Haye's first defense will be against former titleholder John Ruiz, who was the mandatory challenger for Valuev but agreed to a step-aside deal so Haye could face Valuev.
The deal for that fight is agreed to and, according to Ruiz attorney Anthony Cardinale, it will likely take place April 3 at the O2 Arena in London.
While Ruiz's style has led to numerous ugly fights, Haye said he isn't disappointed he has to face an opponent who does not bring a lot of financial muscle to the table and who is hard to look good against.
"I don't look at it as a negative," he said of facing Ruiz. "Any fight for me now in the U.K. will be big news, particularly after the momentum the fight [with Valuev] picked up. All I can do is beat the guys put in front of me. John Ruiz got paid step-aside money, so I owe him the opportunity. If it wasn't for him taking the money to step aside where would I be now? I wouldn't be heavyweight champion. I have to respect and honor the contract."
If Haye defeats Ruiz, fights with Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko, brothers who hold the other three major title belts between them, loom as major showdowns.
Haye, of course, has talked endlessly about fighting both of them. He used his mouth to stoke massive interest in fights with them and then walked away from both when they were on the table.
He had a deal to face Wladimir last summer and pulled out shortly before the bout claiming a back injury that most suspect had more to do with British broadcaster Setanta -- the company covering most of Haye's purse -- about to go out of business than a bad back.
Then Haye's manager and trainer, Adam Booth, negotiated a deal for Haye to face Vitali Klitschko in September. The Klitschko camp thought it was set, but Haye pulled out suddenly and signed to fight Valuev. That angered Klitschko and HBO, which had planned to televise that bout after being burned already on the Wladimir Klitschko fight.
Haye defended himself for the moves.
"Valuev came along with a much better deal and that's the route I took," he said. "Vitali was very upset because he realized how many zeroes were lopped off his next paycheck. That probably cut him very deep and he said he would never fight me."
But Haye remains convinced that a fight with one of the Klitschkos will eventually happen.
"There's too much hype and talk for that fight not to happen. Either one," he said. "Whichever one is free, we can sit down, and now I am coming to the table with something. I'd be very interested to see what their stance is."
With so little heavyweight experience and a win against Valuev that many thought could have gone the other way, Haye knows he still has much to prove.
"Over time people will start warming to what I can do," he said.
One thing people know Haye can do is talk. He enjoys that aspect of the fight game.
"I know I say a lot. I exaggerate a little bit. I like to laugh and say funny comments. I like to embarrass them," he said of his opponents. "I like fighting guys who are angry with me. I've always found guys who load up and try to come to war with me always come off second best."
His gift for oration has been with him since he was a kid.
"I used to do the same things when I was a lad," he said. "Slowly but surely I became a trash talker. My mum [Jane] hates it though. I get reprimanded every other night. I get calls from her and she says, 'How dare you say this about this guy, he's a human being. How would you like it if he said that about you?'
"I said, 'Mum, this is boxing. He's going to try to knock me out in a few weeks.' She knows it's my personality but she's not impressed by it one bit. She brought me up to be a lot more respectful and she feels it might reflect badly on her, the trash talk all the time."
With all the talking Haye does, it should come as little surprise that one of his boxing idols is England's former featherweight champ Naseem Hamed.
"I was a massive fan of Naseem when I was in my teens. He could do no wrong in my eyes," Haye said. "He was very funny. You'd hear an interview from him and you'd always have a laugh. And that's great. Boxing is a hard enough sport, you should have a laugh sometimes. Nobody is interested in a lovefest. I go right across the line and take a s--- on the other side.
"If it ruffles people's feathers and gets their blood boiling, and if people hate me because of it, I say mission accomplished."
Khan-Maidana no sure thing
John Gichigi/Getty ImagesIf Amir Khan wants to hold on to his belt, he'll have to defend it against Marcos Maidana.
If England's Amir Khan wants to hang on to his junior welterweight belt, he'll next face interim titlist Marcos Maidana of Argentina after a purse bid was called Tuesday for their mandatory fight. The bid will take place Jan. 18 in the WBA offices in Panama.
There have been questions about whether Khan would accept a fight with the dangerous-punching Maidana, an opponent Khan trainer Freddie Roach isn't interested in.
Khan visited the United States recently and met with Top Rank and Golden Boy officials to shop for a new promotional deal, according to a source with knowledge of the visits.
Khan believes his deal with British promoter Frank Warren is up. Warren, of course, believes otherwise. However, Khan, who wants to fight in America, couldn't get an offer better than the one Warren has on the table for him to fight Maidana, so he may accept the Maidana bout after all and fight for Warren if he wins the purse bid. HBO has designs on televising Khan's next fight, which is ticketed for March.
Khan successfully defended his 140-pound title for the first time Dec. 5 with a 76-second knockout of Dmitriy Salita. Maidana defended his interim belt Nov. 21, knocking out William Gonzalez in the third round.
Toney-Tarver talks
Renay Johnson/FightWireImages.com James Toney, right, isn't about to back down from a fight with Antonio Tarver.
James Toney and Antonio Tarver, both 41-year-old former multitime champions who know how to talk up a fight, are discussing a potential spring bout, Toney promoter Dan Goossen told ESPN.com.
"I've had talks with [Tarver manager] Al Haymon about it," Goossen said. "If we can make it happen, I know James is on board. I'm pushing hard to get James a fight with Vitali Klitschko or Sam Peter or Odlanier Solis, if he's this great up-and-coming heavyweight. But Tarver is also a possibility."
Toney, a former three-division champ, has been fighting at heavyweight since 2003. Tarver is a career light heavyweight. Goossen said the weight is being discussed. He said if the fight happens it could be anywhere from 200 to 210 pounds. Toney was 217 pounds for his last fight, a second-round knockout of Matt Greer in September. It was the lightest Toney (72-6-3, 44 KOs) has been since he was 217 for his 2003 knockout of Evander Holyfield.
"Tarver threw the fight out there and you know James, he doesn't turn anything down. You've got two guys who have certainly proven their worth and two guys who will get a lot of buzz because of their history and their mouths," Goossen said, adding that Toney is also exploring a UFC bout. "It's an interesting fight if we can come to an agreement on the weight. I believe the money can be worked out. We'd like to get a network behind it or do it on pay-per-view."
Tarver (27-6, 19 KOs) hasn't fought since last May, when he lost his second consecutive light heavyweight title bout to Chad Dawson.
QUICK HITS
Martinez
• Junior middleweight titlist Sergio Martinez is suddenly a man with options following his tremendous Dec. 5 middleweight battle with Paul Williams, which Williams won via majority decision in a bout many felt could have gone either way. Lou DiBella, Martinez's promoter, said he's received an offer from the Williams camp about a rematch but has also talked with Top Rank's Bob Arum about a middleweight championship opportunity against Kelly Pavlik. "I have talked with Lou about Williams-Martinez II and I believe the rematch would be bigger and better than the first bout was," said Dan Goossen, Williams' promoter. "It's a fight we're exploring." On the Pavlik talks, DiBella said, "Arum is offering the Pavlik fight but Williams' people are offering more money, but Sergio prefers the Pavlik fight. Both fights are big for HBO and extremely viable and competitive fights. I'll pursue the fight my fighter wants and he prefers the Pavlik fight. But money is very important." Pavlik and Williams were supposed to fight each other Dec. 5 before Pavlik pulled out for the second time because of a hand injury, and there is no love lost between the sides, which could become worse as they battle for the same opponent.
Adamek
• Cruiserweight champ Tomasz Adamek has big plans in the works if he can turn back Jason Estrada (16-2, 4 KOs) when they meet in a heavyweight fight Feb. 6. Adamek promoter Kathy Duva of Main Events and Goossen, who promotes Cristobal Arreola, are in talks to match Adamek and Arreola on HBO's "Boxing After Dark," potentially April 24. "Any deal we make would, of course, be contingent on Adamek winning his Feb. 6 fight," Duva told ESPN.com. Said Goossen, "We're certainly having positive talks." Adamek (39-1, 27 KOs) tested the heavyweight waters in October, knocking out countryman Andrew Golota in the fifth round in Poland in perhaps the biggest fight in Polish history. Arreola (28-1, 25 KOs), who was dominated in a 10th-round TKO loss to Vitali Klitschko in a September title shot, bounded back to stop Brian Minto in the fourth round Dec. 5.
Bika
• Super middleweight Sakio Bika (28-3-2, 19 KOs), winner of the 2007 "Contender" tournament, and Allan Green (29-1, 20 KOs) are finalizing a Feb. 5 match on Showtime's "ShoBox," Green promoter DiBella told ESPN.com. If it comes off the winner would officially be named first alternate in the event anyone drops out of the Super Six tournament. "Allan has agreed to the fight and Bika and [manager] Al Haymon are working on their side, although Al has been a little bit tied up," DiBella said, referring to Haymon's role as Floyd Mayweather's adviser during the Manny Pacquiao-Mayweather talks. If Bika-Green is a draw, DiBella said the winner of a coin flip would be alternate. Also, if an injury forces the fight to be called off, the healthy fighter would be named alternate. There had been talk of Green challenging titlist Lucian Bute in Canada on HBO, but Bika is more of a sure date because Bute has also been talking about a fight with Bernard Hopkins, which is unlikely, or Edison Miranda. The possibility remains that Jermain Taylor may drop out of the Super Six before an April fight with titleholder Andre Ward. Behind the scenes, sources said, Haymon (also Taylor's manager) is negotiating a buyout for Taylor.
Marquez
• Lightweight champ Juan Manuel Marquez will return May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com. Marquez, who hasn't fought since being shut out by Floyd Mayweather in a September welterweight fight, is returning to 135 pounds to defend his title, Schaefer said. Originally, discussions centered on a junior welterweight showdown between Marquez and former champ Ricky Hatton, but Schaefer said the Hatton camp informed him that he would likely take a tuneup fight first in late May or June. Schaefer said with Hatton out of the immediate picture, the leading candidates to face Marquez are Juan Diaz and Michael Katsidis. Marquez stopped Diaz in the ninth round in February in the 2009 ESPN.com fight of the year. Katsidis, an all-action brawler, looms as one of Marquez's mandatory challengers. "The first [Marquez-Diaz fight] was the fight of the year," Schaefer said. "Those two guys are made for each other, and Katsidis, who is always in good fights, is another possibility." Schaefer said he is planning to put on a pay-per-view card with Marquez as the headliner, although he added he is still discussing the date with HBO.
Klitschko
• Heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko (53-3, 47 KOs), who had surgery on his left shoulder to repair a tendon problem in July, returns to action on March 20, probably in Düsseldorf, Germany, to make a mandatory defense against American contender Eddie Chambers (35-1, 18 KOs), Bernd Boente, Klitschko's manager, told ESPN.com. Dan Goossen, Chambers' promoter, told ESPN.com the deal hasn't been finalized, but "we should have everything done by the end of this week or next week." Boente said he is hoping to find an American television network to carry the bout, but that HBO isn't interested. "It's something I can't understand," Boente said. "Chambers looked very good against top-rated [Alexander] Dimitrenko and is by far the best U.S. heavyweight and ranked very high." Klitschko suffered the shoulder injury during his June 20 destruction of Ruslan Chagaev.
Darchinyan
• Junior bantamweight champ Vic Darchinyan (33-2-1, 27 KOs) will defend his belts March 6 on Showtime, promoter Gary Shaw told ESPN.com. Darchinyan, who will face an opponent to be determined, will open the card headlined by the Super Six tournament bout between super middleweight contenders Arthur Abraham and Andre Dirrell, which will likely take place in Rancho Mirage, Calif. After losing a decision challenging for a bantamweight belt against Joseph Agbeko in July, Darchinyan returned to 115 pounds and retained his titles with a blistering second-round knockout of Tomas Rojas on Dec. 12.
Johnson
• Former light heavyweight champ Glen Johnson (49-13-2, 33 KOs), 41, and Yusaf Mack (28-2-2, 17 KOs), 29, will meet Jan. 30 on the untelevised portion of the Shane Mosley-Andre Berto card at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay with the right to challenge titleholder Tavoris Cloud at stake. Mack, winner of all five of his bouts since moving full-time to light heavyweight in 2008, believes his youth will serve him well against Johnson, who was outhustled by the younger Chad Dawson in November. "I think Glen is a good fighter but he is past his prime," Mack said. "He is old and I am the one that will put him into retirement. This is a big step for me and this will show the world that I am the next man in charge of the light heavyweight division."
Harris
• In another notable fight on the Mosley-Berto card, ex-junior welterweight titlist Vivian Harris (29-3-1, 19 KOs), 31, faces a stiff challenge from Argentina's powerful Lucas Matthysse (25-0, 23 KOs), 27. Harris is trying to get his career back on track after a tough three-fight stretch. He was brutally knocked out in the seventh round by Junior Witter in a 2007 title bout, got knocked down twice in a 2008 win against journeyman Octavio Narvaez, and then was on the receiving end of a terrible head-butt against Noe Bolano in what was ruled a second-round no contest in August.
Stieglitz
• Super middleweight titlist Robert Stieglitz (36-2, 22 KOs) has a new opponent on short notice, Argentina's Ruben Eduardo Acosta (23-3-5, 7 KOs), for his first defense Saturday in Germany. Stieglitz was supposed to face Edison Miranda but illness forced Miranda to withdraw Dec. 28. "Not much has changed for me with the new opponent," Stieglitz said. "The styles of Miranda and Acosta should be similar. I'm prepared very well. Nevertheless, we'll do a long video study of Acosta's fights. Now I just need to quickly make the changes in my head." Acosta was happy to take the fight, even on such short notice. "I will show a good fight," he said. "I've looked at films of the fights of Stieglitz on the Internet. He's a good champion. I think it will be quite a hard fight, but I am in very good shape as I was scheduled to box next week." Stieglitz claimed his 168-pound belt in August by stopping Hungary's Karoly Balzsay in the 11th round.
Dzindziruk
• Junior middleweight titlist Sergei Dzindziruk, unhappy with German promoter Universum, has been in litigation with the company in an effort to become a free agent. But, according to Universum, a German court upheld its contract. "The court ruled in Universum's favor," Dietmar Poszwa, a member of Universum management, said in a statement. "There have been reports that Sergei is a free agent but that is not true. According to the court ruling made by the district court in Hamburg on Nov. 13, 2009, he is still bound by contract exclusively with Universum. Additionally, Universum is, contrary to allegations made by Dzindziruk, not responsible that intended fights against Paul Williams and James Kirkland couldn't be realized. Those fights failed due to a lack of interest from the U.S. TV and the high purse demand of Dzindziruk." Poszwa said Dzindziruk has asked to buy out his contract once he receives an offer from another promoter, and that Universum has agreed.
QUOTABLE
De La Hoya
"All the guys who have beat me went on to become major players in the sport: Floyd Mayweather, Shane Mosley, [Manny] Pacquiao, [Bernard] Hopkins. I feel proud that they had to go through me to make it big. In a way I feel kind of proud about that even though I lost. I'm very proud of my career." -- Oscar De La Hoya, who retired last year, reflecting recently on his career, in which he won 10 titles in six weight classes and became the biggest attraction of his generation
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