We all knew Wladimir Klitschko was a chinny smart guy who took no unnecessary shots and worried openly about what might happen if the right man put a punch on his chin. We had our suspicions, expressed openly and often in the United States where he was more of an Off-Broadway attraction than a demigod, suspicions of what form he would revert to if put back in that scary mid-career place where Sanders then Brewster found him.
Suspicions confirmed.
Saturday in Hamburg, a record number of German fight fans watched in stunned silence as Klitschko was decisively undone by a single punch from Englishman David “Hayemaker” Haye in the first minute of round 3. It took another 80 seconds of grappling and referee interference before Haye could drop Klitschko for a count of 20 – officially at 2:03 of the third – but the fight’s conclusion moved from startling to inevitable in the instant after the first right hand landed for Haye.
Exactly as Haye promised it would.
And yet the match began on such an affirming note for the fragile Klitschko. He kept his left arm fully extended during the opening round. Gone were the tension and quiet fury he’d showed HBO analyst Max Kellerman in that eerily scored promotional sitdown with Haye. Instead it was the prototypical Klitschko of other title defenses: left jab, left jab, left jab, balletic backwards leap, left jab.
Then David Haye sold his soul and took the sort of chance that marks heavyweight champions. He hurled himself at greatness and caught Klitschko flush. “Untergeht Klitschko! Untergeht Klitschko!” cried the Cosell of Cologne, over Germany’s airwaves.
Immediately afterward, as a brash and further-emboldened Haye donned his infamous beheaded-brothers t-shirt and ensured his diamond earrings were properly replaced, Klitschko spoke tentatively about any athlete being capable of a bad night, and his legacy, and a rematch.
Let’s simplify things. Wladimir, your legacy is this: A properly matched giant whose reign as heavyweight champion saw boxing’s popularity plummet. The very man, in other words, Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster said you were.
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Well, that was futile, wasn’t it? To see David Haye in person is to be as surprised at his height as his sprightly tongue. The man is bigger than he looks on television. He has all the confidence needed to be heavyweight champion of the world. He looks the part. Or so we thought.
What other excuse do we have as the witlings who picked him to upset Wladimir Klitschko?
Saturday in Hamburg, a record number of German fight fans watched in cruel ecstasy as Haye collected an indecent number of blows from Wladimir “Dr. Steelhammer” Klitschko before Haye’s corner climbed in the ring and threw its white terrycloth at the Ukrainian ogre. The official time of the Klitschko TKO victory was 1:19 of round 11. But it should have come five rounds earlier.
By then it had become obvious to even a casual observer Haye was a media creation, an inflated cruiserweight with the British accent Americans traditionally mistake for learnedness and wit.
It started in the first minute of the second round, after a dull opening stanza that saw Haye pace five feet from Klitschko’s extended left arm, imitating a caged version of Lion from “The Wizard of Oz.” Then something clicked behind Haye’s eyes and he went for greatness. His head raced into a Klitschko jab that struck with unmanning force.
Three rounds later, with a softened foe before him, Klitschko began to offer right crosses, and it looked like a pro golfer bludgeoning his caddy with a three iron.
The tragic irony of the evening was that Klitschko badly wanted to knock Haye senseless – a merciful conclusion. But each time Klitschko had his finishing blow ready, Haye would feint a blow of his own, and Klitschko would leap backwards. Finally, it was Klitschko’s skittishness that turned him from gentleman to enhanced interrogator.
After the fight Klitschko offered to cover part of the cost of Haye’s time in a Hamburg hospital room, where reports indicate Haye is recovering and expected to announce his retirement from prizefighting by week’s end.
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Which outcome will it be? There’s no telling just yet, and that means the suspense of what may unfold might entice American viewers to spend an hour of their Saturday afternoon next week to watch the first anticipated heavyweight title fight since Lewis-Tyson. This is a fight boxing badly needs.
Not because it’s consequential, mind you. It’s too late for that. Five years ago, a heavyweight title-unification match would have been reason enough to spend $50 on a pay-per-view fight broadcast from Madison Square Garden. But that was five years ago.
Today, when even aficionados forego weekly offerings from ESPN, Telefutura, Fox Deportes, and increasingly Showtime and HBO, a consequential fight is not enough. No, this match in Germany, Klitschko-Haye, must transcend itself. It must surprise us in a way that wins fans back.
Too tall an order for these men, you say?
We’re all afraid you might be right. We’re afraid Klitschko will come out and keep Haye six feet away as rounds accumulate – like Haye were a braided version of Sultan Ibragimov. Or that Haye will flex and threaten and wing unbalanced shots from a safe distance, never imperiling Klitschko.
If those things happen, it will not be the end of boxing. It will be but another eroding wave that washes away a little more of the majestic bluff boxing once occupied – taking with it another handful of people who’ll no longer notice if boxing continues or doesn’t.
David Haye has an opportunity to dam that erosion by introducing doubt to our flagship division. The best thing, really.
But best things don’t happen in boxing anymore. So I’ll take Klitschko: KO-11.
Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @barbarry
