Haye out to show AJ he’s still box office
DAVID HAYE will continue to cross the boundary y between hardcoree boxing fans andd the wider public as hee engages in the second fight ht of his comeback.
London’s O2 is likely to be close e to capacity tonight and, though h the fight against a little-known n Kosovan will be televised on Dave, e, which is not a major channel, it will ll open the door to an audience widerer than it would receive on pay TV.
The crowd in the arena will notot much care that the Hayemaker is likely to scythe down the Swissbased Arnold Gjergja in next to noo time, as he did another anonymous us heavyweight here in January.
The live gate will comprise largely a young audience of chaps on a night out and couples, some me with kids, for whom this is not so o much a boxing match as an event. t. Never mind the fight, feel the glamour and the thrill of the knockout. t.
It has been much the same with h Anthony Joshua, and Haye, a switched-on salesman, is making a canny pitch about which of them can claim the O2 as ‘my house’.
It is not so much a rivalry as a joint venture. Both are helping to broaden the sport’s appeal.
Neither can be blamed for doing so against virtual cannon-fodder. Joshua took advantage of the feeblest holder of a heavyweight belt in living memory, American Charles Martin, to win his world title. At his young age he deserves at least one more relatively routine defence to follow next month’s O2 outing against another unexceptional US visitor, Dominic Breazeale.
Haye has to reaffirm his championship credentials while finetuning his rehabilitation from a long-term shoulder injury. Expect that process to be completed with an autumn fight against American Shannon Briggs, who should whet the public appetite for that match by knocking out another unknown on the O2 undercard.
Given the glitzy packaging of music and celebrities, the predictability of the outcome of these fights is unlikely to diminish public interest. Let us hope not, since Haye is generously donating 10 per cent from O2 ticket sales to Nick Blackwell, the young boxer who, despite recovering from the coma induced after his defeat by Chris Eubank Jnr, has had to terminate his career.
A full house would add some £50,000 to his premature retirement fund. Blackwell, in his debut as a commentator, and Eubank are both expected to be at ringside. If so, there should be an emotional reunion for the first time since they fought each other. The longer-term fascination hinges around if and when Haye and Joshua meet.
It is highly unlikely it will happen this year. Thereafter, the question of whether it could be sooner rather than later in 2017 may depend upon whether Team Joshua discern any evidence in Haye’s performance to support the suggestion by former champion Lennox Lewis that the Hayemaker is losing speed as he gains muscle weight.
HAYE v Gjergjaj will be televised live on Dave from 8pm tonight.