British challenger David Haye insists he will be the first fighter to knock out WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev today.
The brash Briton has only a handful of heavyweight fights under his belt since stepping up from cruiserweight, but insists he will put the 2.13m Russian, who tips the scales at around 145kg, on the canvas at the Nuremberg Arena.
Having described Valuev as a “circus freak,” Haye has taken every opportunity to trash-talk the champion, but the Russian insists he will use the British challenger’s words as motivation.
PHOTO: AFP
Valuev labored to a majority decision win over Evander Holyfield in his last bout in December and is regarded as a safety-first fighter.
Haye is a hard-puncher, with 21 knockouts from 22 fights, the vast majority of which were at cruiserweight, but today’s fight will be a huge test of both his stamina and strength in dealing with a heavier and taller opponent.
With typical bravado, however, Haye insists he will be Valuev’s worst nightmare, having already dreamed about putting the Russian on the canvas.
“He hasn’t fought anyone of my caliber — he’s never fought anyone in their prime or someone so fired up,” the 29-year-old said. “I’m not one of these guys he’s used to fighting. I’m not over the hill, I’m not tainted, I’m not past my sell-by-date. I’m fresh, I’m ready.”
Haye has a point.
Valuev has fought just four times since the only defeat of his career to Ruslan Chagaev in April 2007.
All of his opponents — Holyfield, John Ruiz of the US, Belarusian Sergey Lyakhovich and Canadian Jean-Francois Bergeron — took him the full 12 rounds and his last knockout win was against Monte Barrett in October 2006.
Having regained his WBA title this summer after Chagaev was stripped of his belt, however, Valuev insists he is in no mood to relinquish his title.
“His comments have been very motivating, but let’s see what Haye has to offer inside the ring,” the 36-year-old said.
This is Haye’s first shot at a world heavyweight title after moving up a weight division and is a step into the unknown against Valuev, who is 23cm taller and nearly 40kg heavier.
The British fighter has been sparring with his trainer wearing 15cm-high boots to prepare for the height disadvantage he will face.
Valuev’s manager Wilfried Sauerland, however, has posed key questions about Haye’s confidence.
“I don’t know where he [Haye] gets his confidence from,” Sauerland said. “He is untested at heavyweight and got knocked down a lot of times in his career. Now he is facing a proven champion with 50 victories, so I really wonder why he is so optimistic.”
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS