David Haye, blatantly and with some justification, is trying to write himself into the alluring Anthony Joshua script before the Olympic champion’s fight with Dillian Whyte in London on Saturday night for the British heavyweight title recently vacated by Tyson Fury.
Four British heavyweights – three of them unbeaten, the fourth a former world champion on the comeback trail – at or near world level mentioned in one paragraph: that is surely a sign that the division here is as strong as it was when Lennox Lewis ruled 12 years ago, probably stronger.
Haye had let slip that he and Joshua were scheduled to collide “very shortly”, which found quick agreement with the latter. “You heard it here first,” Joshua said. “Some time, down the line, our paths will cross – whatever it’s for. You’ve got two great athletes.”
Since Lewis quit in 2004, the sport’s most-coveted title has had legitimacy through the reign of Wladimir Klitschko and, intermittently, his brother, Vitali – but not much of excitement. That could be about to change. These guys are The Exciters.
If Joshua can beat the undefeated Whyte – who had him down briefly when they were novice amateurs – and Haye sees off the challenge of the heavy-handed Mark de Mori in his comeback next month, an intriguing scenario begins to unfold in which the ultimate prize is a challenge for the crown Fury snatched so rudely from Wladimir’s buzzed head in Düsseldorf two weekends ago.
Chapter one will be written at the O2 Arena in Greenwich. Joshua, who has grown in stature since he turned professional two years and 14 fights ago, should have too much speed, power and movement for Whyte. The Brixton fighter is dangerous but produces his knockout blows from such a wide stance he will create gaps of opportunity that Joshua’s straight right hand will surely begin to explore from round one. The job ought to be done by rounds five or six.
He then needs to step up – or, maybe, briefly sideways – and that is where Dereck Chisora comes in. He is on the undercard, against 16-13 trial-horse Jakov Gospic, and no doubt would be willing to take on Joshua on the undercard of the Carl Frampton-Scott Quigg super-bantamweight unification fight in Manchester on 27 February.
To sustain the narrative, Haye has to beat De Mori at the O2 Arena on 16 January, which would position him perfectly to fight Joshua on the undercard of a 4 June open-air extravaganza at Wembley Stadium, if Eddie Hearn can next week persuade Amir Khan to fight Kell Brook two days before Ramadan begins that month.
The winner of Haye-Joshua would be a rightful and lucrative contender to fight Fury for whichever, if any, of the world belts he still holds in another football stadium fight towards the end of the summer. Fury, of course, has to beat Klitschko in a rematch and is angling to do so in the UK in April or May. All the while the WBC champion, Deontay Wilder, idles across the Atlantic. What could possibly go wrong? A lot, obviously – but those are the best options on the table.
For now, Joshua is concentrating on Whyte, for whom he has little affection, although the animosity seems to be as shallow as it is long-running, generated mainly by the man from Brixton – understandable, as he stands on the outside looking in. They are fascinating antagonists: similar in their ambitions, yet polar opposites in demeanour.
“I just find him funny,” Joshua says. “I don’t like people who talk rubbish, that’s all it is. He’s been doing it for the last 12 weeks … no, he’s been doing it since 2012 or even 2009. It’s just routine now. It’s nothing I haven’t dealt with Dillian before; he’s always been quite negative and hyped up.”
Whyte, naturally, does not see it like that. He sees a favoured, much richer rival, cosseted by the admiration of Sky Sports and Matchroom, the big hope for the future – and he is determined to upset all their plans. “I’m not going to shy away from things because soon I will be putting my hands on him and he will be putting his hands on me,” Whyte said this week.
“I love what the guy does but it’s not him. He won the Olympics and was in the Great Britain squad for a while. Part of him being in the squad is that they teach you how to behave, how to say things – and maybe a lot of mind-coaching as well. So that’s what I mean when I call him a robot. They wind him up and tell him what to do and what to say.
“I don’t need any of that stuff. Whatever he comes at me with on Saturday night, I am here to win and to knock him out. He’s used to having things go his own way and he’s used to controlling everything. So it doesn’t matter … he could come with iron in his chin and I will be there in front of him trying to break it.”
Joshua resents this view of him as a product. He reckons he has been to as many hard places as the man from Brixton. Joshua, of course, was sentenced to 100 hours of community service in 2011 after marijuana had been found in his car when he was pulled up for speeding in London. He was tagged – and he learned from his mistakes.
He replies: “When he says, ’Your heart will fail you and I’ve always had it against me,’ I just think ’So have I, who hasn’t?’ Who hasn’t had it tough?
“It doesn’t make anyone any better than anyone else, you just keep on doing what you’re doing. That was part of my story and I’m here now and that’s all that matters – I’m still going strong.”
