By Matthew Sanderson

David Haye is one of the most exciting fighters in British boxing, but the powerful cruiserweight boxed well within himself to dismantle Denmark’s Lasse Johansen at the sold out York Hall in Bethnal Green last Friday, to win in eight rounds. The win marked his first defense of his European Boxing Union crown, and preserved Haye’s ranking among the top ten best cruiserweights in the world.

Making the first defense of the crown he wrenched so brutally from Alexander Gurov (KO1) last December, the Londoner has been flanked by criticism for letting his Danish challenger off the hook during a flat spell in the fight’s middle stages, but demonstrated an increased level of patience that speaks well for his chances of moving up from European level to making a bigger mark on the world scene.

Anyone who remembers the reckless youth who punched himself out against the remarkable old Carl Thompson (a former European and WBO champion and veteran of many a brutal war) a couple of years ago – giving the smaller, slower, older man his only shot at what would be the fifth round TKO victory – should be pleased at Haye’s more thoughtful and intelligent approach to combat.

Following tuition from Jorge Rubio in Miami, who has coached the Cuban national team for the past 17 years, the ‘Hayemaker’ showed he is becoming a polished technical fighter with a frightful, world-class repertoire and great reflexes. Haye certainly looked a class act over the first three frames, picking off his challenger with a smooth up-jab, whip-like left hook leads and crunching rights to the body and head, but allowed Johansen to gain confidence through the fourth, fifth and sixth.

Although the authority had drained from his work, Haye rode out the rough patches when his taller foe outjabbed him and clocked him with rights, and made the necessary adjustments. When the champion asserted himself in the seventh and finally put his combinations together in the eighth, the bloodied and overwhelmed visitor didn’t want any more to do with it, and signalled for the referee’s intervention. With this win, Haye’s record improved to 16-1 (16 KOs), whilst the Dane dropped to 14-1.

The fight marked the first time Haye has gone past the fifth round (the round that Thompson stopped him in), and was a crucial exercise in learning to pace a fight and alternating different gears. Questions of his stamina, punch resistance and ability to pull through adversity remain an unanswered concern, but if these problems do linger, at least Haye is finding a way around them and not just relying on raw power, as has worryingly been the case in the not to distant past.

It didn’t all gel together seamlessly, and there were some rough edges, but Haye got the chance to try out various moves, such as a shoulder roll defense, some clever footwork and even a right hand counter timed over his foe’s jab. Considering his power, and the lack of truly durable opponents at this level, Haye has seldom had the chance for this practise in the most important of places – in the ring.

Practice What You Preach

I was somewhere between amused and irked at Sky panellist and WBO cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson, who vehemently criticised Haye for giving his challenger too much respect. Johnny, one of our best defensive fighters in many years, is a cautious operator who does has done this for most of the 13 defenses made of his title over seven years, despite having size and power advantages over most of his foes – often to the exasperation of commentators and panellists alike.

Lewis Points Haye on the Right Path, but will Maloney?

Lennox Lewis, both the most successful British boxer of all time and the most distinguished heavyweight since Larry Holmes, gave Haye some useful hints and tips when he visited the gym in Miami, most notably for the EBU cruiserweight champ to take his time, and not to “rush like a lunatic”, as Haye told it. Like Lewis, Haye is a big man for his weight class (Haye is 6’3 and weighs bang on the expanded 200-lb cruiserweight limit), and with such advantages in size and reach, patience is a virtue that will allow him to dictate fights on his own terms, at a pace comfortable to him.

One hopes, however, that Haye’s new promoter Frank Maloney doesn’t try to rush Haye’s progression up the cruiserweight rankings, by trying to pit him in with IBF, WBA and WBC king O’ Neil Bell, before trying to ‘do a Lewis’ with a prompt, ill-advised move up to heavyweight. Europe might currently be pretty desolate of worthy and durable challengers at 200-lbs, but Britain is a fertile ground that should be exploited. Always a good country for top cruiserweights and great fights, we saw both of these on the chief undercard of Joe Calzaghe’s drubbing of Jeff Lacy.

Wales’ Enzo Maccarinelli edged Mark Hobson in a remarkable 12 round contest that pitted the untested power puncher against the more seasoned, better-schooled Yorkshireman. A skilful and intense meeting, it will hopefully signal a round robin of fights that will involve Haye also, which would both raising each man’s profile and get them all ready for the very tough world scene. Ironically, Haye-Hobson was scuppered twice, due to injuries suffered by Haye and then a case of shingles suffered by Hobson when the contest was rescheduled last year.

Rushing Haye, whether he struggles with his weight or not, past this most exciting of stages would indeed be lunacy.

Tarver a Way off from Greatness

Is anyone else but myself sick of hearing Antonio Tarver harp on about his “greatness”? Now calling himself the ‘Legend Killer’, the IBO and Ring magazine light heavyweight champion promises to do to former middleweight king Bernard Hopkins what he did to Roy Jones in their second fight, and stop his man early.

If he should win, the only history Tarver will be making is Ancient History, as was the case versus a slowing down Jones, thus demeaning it somewhat. And if he should lose to the smaller, more accomplished and possibly fresher ‘Executioner’, 41, Tarver, 37, will leave very little in the way of legacy behind. History will tell us that he has made a whopping…one successful world title defense. Wouldn’t compare favourably with the resumes of light heavyweight greats Virgil Hill, Michael Spinks and Bob Foster, would it?

Tough Night Looms for Abraham

Following his easy March 11 win over a pedestrian Shannon Taylor, the IBF middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham has a real challenge looming ahead of him. Not from Kofi Jantuah, next in line for the German based puncher for his May 13 title defense, but rather from an exciting new face in the division. Edison Miranda, of Columbia, swept away Britain’s Howard Eastman last Friday in seven rounds at the Hard Rock Arena in South Florida, to earn the IBF’s number one position.

Although that marks the third successive loss for Howard – after being easily outboxed by Bernard Hopkins and then edged by Abraham – ‘Pantera’ became the first man ever to stop ‘The Battersea Bomber’. Abraham may have the head start in a battle between heavy bitters, as he’s developing the one thing that Miranda would seem to lack – finesse. One hopes Edison presses for this bout sooner rather than later, which will bridge the gap between top European and American based fighters.