David Haye vs. Mark de Mori: Lessons Learned from London Fight
David Haye certainly didn't waste much time in his long-awaited return.
The Englishman—appearing in the ring for the first time since stopping Dereck Chisora in the summer of 2012—flattened Australian Mark de Mori in Round 1 at the O2 Arena in London.
Hayemaker took less time to see off the challenge of his opponent than he took to walk to the ring in the first place. Still, he definitely came back with a bang, finishing the bout in devastating fashion.
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Here Bleacher Report takes a look back at the (brief) action, picking out some of the talking points to emerge from what was a brutal battering of poor De Mori.
Questions, Questions
So, what did we really learn about Haye? Not much is the short answer.
His timing was a little off, which was to be expected from someone who had been out of action for 1,281 days.
There were no problems with the right shoulder that was operated on in November 2013, although it was hardly tested during a fight in which only one man was seriously interested in throwing punches.
However, the way Haye flattened De Mori was a reminder of just how hard he hits.
He pulled the trigger on a right hand over the top to counter a weak (and rare) jab from his opponent. The blow sparked the beginning of the end, as Haye won after two minutes and 11 seconds:
His power may have increased considering he is now very much a heavyweight. Haye was 210 pounds prior to defeating Chisora in 2012—he was just over 227 pounds at the weigh-in for the bout with De Mori.
A better indication of what a heavier Haye may mean at the highest level will come later on, but it is not as if he is in a similar shape to George Foreman when he returned to action in 1987 after a 10-year break.
What we did definitely find out, though, is the 35-year-old is fully fit and firing on all cylinders.
Per Ben Dirs of BBC Sport, Haye said after the bout: "The shoulder feels better than it was before. I feel this new and improved version of me will go on and win heavyweight championships."
He expected some rustiness, but any signs his skills had diminished during his lengthy absence would have led to the gloves quickly being put away again.
Instead, Haye looked to revel in being back in the spotlight.
The Name Game
De Mori didn’t even get time to pick himself up off the canvas and strap on an oxygen mask before social media spat out a number of names that could be next up for Haye.
If you are/were a heavyweight, or even just a fairly heavy-set bloke, you probably got a mention somewhere on Twitter as a potential opponent for the Londoner.
Below are a some of the more sensible options that appeared:
However, a pair of Haye’s compatriots were the most popular names mentioned:
So could either of those all-English fights happen anytime soon?
Haye vs. Tyson Fury seems unlikely. The pair have history, as they were twice due to meet in the ring, only for the former to pull out because of fitness issues.
Fury has little interest in seeing whether it could be third time lucky. Peter Fury, Tyson’s uncle, told Matt Horan of World Boxing News: "It is business at the end of the day and good luck to him on his comeback, but we are not interested at all. We’ve had very bad, frustrating experiences with him and have no interest in any fight down the line."
Anthony Joshua, therefore, is the better option to focus on by default.
Haye had said of the Olympic gold medallist before making his comeback, per Barry Glendenning of the Guardian: "Strangely, right now, I believe the biggest fight is Anthony Joshua."
When asked on Twitter about the prospect of a clash between the two Londoners at some stage in 2016, Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, replied: “Too big not to happen."
While it is a tantalising prospect, Haye vs. Joshua is not likely to happen until nearer the end of the year, if not later. It'll make both men rich whenever it happens, but it would be even bigger if there were a world title involved.
Instead, Haye needs to find a foe who's willing to put up a fight without pushing him to the brink of retirement. It shouldn't be hard to pick out an opponent better than De Mori, though.
Box Office Appeal
Despite his period of inactivity, and despite fighting someone whose CV was, to put it nicely, distinctly weak, Haye still managed to draw a crowd.
Per Gareth A Davies of the Telegraph, the 16,000-capacity O2 Arena was sold out.
The lacklustre undercard had little to entice people in, so the majority inside the venue had come along especially to see the main event.
A number of Haye's celebrity friends could be spotted at ringside too.
According to PA Images on Twitter, "Benedict Cumberbatch, Idris Elba and Louis Smith" were all in attendance.
Whether you love him or hate him (and there are plenty in both camps), fights involving Haye create a buzz, as journalist Ron Lewis of the Times and boxing website Bad Left Hook pointed out:
Haye can obviously still sell tickets, as well as make the media pay attention. This was a non-title bout against a man with no pedigree to speak of, yet national newspapers sent their heavy hitters to cover from ringside while sports websites set up blogs to provide live coverage.
Haye is a promoter’s dream, which is handy considering he now promotes himself.
His return to the heavyweight scene has also been timed to perfection. There are world title fights out there for him that don’t involve running into Wladimir Klitschko again (depending on how the Ukrainian goes in a rematch with Tyson Fury, of course).
David on Dave
It was an interesting twist from Haye to jump into bed with an unusual broadcasting partner. As well as screening the bout live on YouTube, he also struck a deal with television channel Dave.
Normally better known for running episodes of Ice Road Truckers and Top Gear, the Freeview channel took up the opportunity to try its hand at a bit of boxing.
While some poked fun at the unlikely partnership, Haye should be praised for his out-of-ring tactics.
As for the actual coverage, presenter Paul Dempsey and commentator Ronald McIntosh provided some much-needed boxing experience to the broadcast. It was a little clumsy at points, particularly the post-fight interview that involved a mid-session switch of microphones so everyone could hear inside the O2.
The choice of BJ Flores as an analyst was a smart piece of thinking too considering he had previously worked on shows in the United States and was close to Haye.
Haye won't be appearing on Dave too often (not unless he's popping up on a celebrity special of Storage Hunters UK), but the partnership benefited both sides in the short term.
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