By Shawn Krest

Like so many cruiserweights before him, David Haye will soon be throwing his Hayemakers with the big boys. In its 25-year lifespan, the division has been the equivalent of a fancy Las Vegas hotel.  It’s had more than it’s share of talent drop by, but none of them stick around for very long.

And like those palaces off the Strip, for every visitor that goes on to strike it rich, there are plenty more who slink out of town after blowing everything. 

Haye seems to have all the ingredients for a successful move up to heavyweight.  He has punching power which should survive the trip—only one of his 22 career fights have gone the distance.  At 6’3”, he has the size to fill out a heavyweight scale, and some reports have him already bulked up to the mid 230-pound range.  He’s already dipped his toe into the division with a 2007 knockout of established and successful heavyweight Tomasz Bonin in just 1:45. 

Haye also has the attitude.  He’s gone nose-to-nose with heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and threatened to “smash him to bits.”  He called Samuel Peter a “lump” and the rest of the division “fat slobs.”

Working against Haye are two major factors:  His chin and recent boxing history.  Haye’s only career loss was a fifth-round stoppage at the hands of Carl Thompson.  More recently, Jean-Marc Mormeck had Haye down early before the Brit rallied. 

The path blazed by Haye’s predecessors shows that the cruiser-to-heavy move is a big one.  While there have been some high-profile successes, more often than not, the trip does not end well. 

Former cruiserweight champions who have moved up fall into a number of categories. 

The Jeffersons: 

The list of cruisers who moved on up and retained their lofty status as heavyweights is short and limited to perhaps the two best cruiserweights in history.  Evander Holyfield went from the first cruiserweight superstar to a four-time heavyweight champion and Pay-Per-View money machine.  He remains the only man to hold undisputed world crowns in both divisions. 

After holding the WBC cruiserweight crown for nearly three years, Juan Carlos Gomez made the move north and has done well, putting together a 13-1 record. He seems to have lived down an embarrassing first-round knockout by Yanqui Diaz and most recently defeated Oliver McCall in a title eliminator. 

Both fighters have blazed the path that Haye should follow.  Rather than jumping in against Peter or Klitschko, Haye should feast on heavyweights that are small, old, or both.  Holyfield broke into the division against James Tillis, Pinklon Thomas, and Michael Dokes, fight-worn thirtysomethings all.  Gomez has followed a path into the division that has been frustratingly slow.  Haye should focus on heavyweights whose name outweighs their threat—Monte Barrett or Hasim Rahman have been mentioned. 

The Grucchi Brothers: 

These cruiserweights are named after the famous fireworks company.  Like the rockets that light up summer nights, these fighters went up, up, up, until they blew apart into little pieces, usually the first time they were really hit. 

Bobby Czyz visited the heavyweight division, although you’re forgiven if you didn’t remember.  Back-to-back knockout losses to Holyfield and Corrie Sanders ended his career.  Former IBF cruiser champ Glenn McCrory was knocked out by Lennox Lewis in his second heavyweight fight. Robert Daniels was sent scurrying back to cruiserweight after a TKO at the hands of David Tua.  Uriah Grant made the move twice, losing to Chris Byrd and Brian Nielsen.  Both times he dropped back down immediately after.

Often, these cruiserweights build up impressive records at the fringes of the heavyweight division.  Back when the cruiser limit was 190, Carlos DeLeon won eight times fighting in the 190s and less than 10 pounds over 200.  That earned him shots against bigger fighters, and back-to-back knockout losses to Sanders and Nielsen ended his career.  Early cruiserweight champion ST Gordon suffered a 49 second knockout to end his heavyweight experiment, and Nestor Hipolito Giovannini went down in the first at the hands of Ezra Sellers.

Many of these fighters may have rushed into the move up in weight.  Several were short term alphabet champions, and, with the exception of Czyz and DeLeon, few were household names.  Then again, Haye didn’t win his first world title until last November, and he’s only fought twice as champion.  A few losses at heavyweight, and he might not be a household name the next time this analysis is done.

The Gordon Gekkos:

Michael Douglas’ Oscar-winning Wall Street character knew that you had to sell high.  Many cruiserweights venture up in weight to cash big paychecks but don’t seem married to long-term success in the division. 

James Toney has made plenty of cash in his brief time at heavyweight, coming tantalizingly close to winning world titles on two occasions. Perhaps his advanced age came into play, but Toney seems to be in a hurry, suffering from too-much-too fast.  After tuning up Evander Holyfield on Pay Per View, Toney injured his arm in a nationally televised decision over Rydell Booker.  He jumped at a title shot against John Ruiz just seven months later, which may have led to the positive steroid test that cost him the WBA belt he carried out of the ring.  A year later, he fought for another title, followed by two eliminators, going 0-2-1 over the span. 

Vassiliy Jirov also made a grab for big-money fights immediately after arriving in the division, losing back-to-back bouts to Joe Mesi and Michael Moorer. Since then, he’s slowed his pace, reducing the quality of his opposition and the size of his purses in winning four of five, his only blemish was a draw with Orlin Norris, who also went winless against Mike Tyson, Vitali Klitschko and Andrew Golota as a heavyweight.  Dwight Muhammad Qawi moved up to heavyweight to lose to George Foreman, then returned to cruiserweight before finishing his career with a handful of heavyweight bouts.

Haye has called out the top names in the division, even if it is currently a relatively weak division.  If he falls into the too-much-too-fast trap, he might end up blemishing his record and doing damage to his confidence. 

The Captain Oveurs: 

Named after the pilot on the classic comedy Airplane!, these cruiserweights went up and reached a cruising altitude.  Some might be accused of switching on the auto-pilot in journeymen heavyweight campaigns.  Alfred Cole (IBF cruiserweight champion for a year) went 8-13-3 as a heavyweight.  Alonzo Ratliff (WBC champion for two fights) went 5-6.  Ossie Ocasio (first ever WBA cruiserwight champion) went 1-8 after moving up.  Jeff Lampkin (IBF champion for two fights) went 4-6. 

Haye’s pedigree and size makes this outcome seem unlikely. 

So where will David Haye end up?  Chances are, after a few beatable heavyweight foes, he’ll be in the ring fighting for a title, and the odds are very good that he’ll join Holyfield as a titlist in both divisions.  Even if he loses, his size, power, and attitude give him the chance to make a long, entertaining run in the division.  And if he ends up being a taller, younger James Toney, maybe that’s just what the division needs.