Politics, Payoffs and Boxing: The Hayemaker's Secret Punch

David Haye may have just retained his WBA Heavyweight title against Audley Harrison, but perhaps that’s not the battle he was looking for.

He often sports the Northern Cypriot flag on his trunks, a country that is only officially recognized by one other in the world and home of his training camp. One might have to ask why gaining citizenship to such a country, which he recently did, would be in any way advantageous to an internationally recognized and celebrated champion boxer like David Haye.

The world of boxing is no stranger to politics.

It seems as though countless boxers walked into (and out of) the ring with a political agenda. During the days when the world of professional boxing was almost completely isolated to the United States, these agenda’s involved human rights, issues with equality or foreign policy. However, with the international world of professional boxing, many use it as a forum of political and economic uplift.

There is no sport that is truly as international as boxing. Fighters pour out from virtually every country of the world to compete in every country of the world. For example, David Haye, a Brit by birth, travels to Northern Cyprus for training. It is not uncommon for fighters to train away from home, however, N. Cyprus is inaccessible from every airport in the world, except for Turkey. Citizens from N. Cyprus cannot travel anywhere, because their citizenship is not recognized. Now, assuming there are no backdoor and under-the-table shenanigans involved (and I say that with a legitimate naïveté), what would a champion boxer have to gain in accepting citizenship to such a place?

Many recall W. Klitschko’s (current IBF & WBO Heavyweight Champ) recent demands for a title unification match against Haye. In light of the recent fight (or annihilation) with Harrison, it would seem that the build up to such a fight it imminent. However, Haye’s reluctance, both financially and administratively, befuddles many boxing fans as the purse is set to 50-50. Since he fought Harrison in the UK, Haye obviously has not renounced his British citizenship and happily traveled there to defend the title. Then again, Haye probably was not worried because Harrison really was not a worthy opponent for Haye, but W. Klitschko certainly is. Could the ace up his sleeve be a citizenship swap? In which case, if anyone would ever want a WBA title fight, they would have to travel to N. Cyprus to take it since Haye would be unable to travel anywhere to defend it.

Certainly, it is not fair to assume that a champion boxer would purposely stoop to such a level to cunningly keep his belt out of anyone’s grasp, but then again, weirder things have happened in boxing.

Furthermore, since it is frowned upon to be anything but completely apolitically in the world of boxing, this is certainly a way to bring about change, business and attention to a forgotten and unrecognized part of the world without giving an outright endorsement.

(Also posted on MyBoxing.com)