November 8th, 2009

Once again David has beaten Goliath. This time it was David Haye, the British heavyweight boxer, taking the Beast from the East, Russia’s Nikolai Valuev. Haye won on points.

“This means everything to me. Since I was a little baby I wanted to be heavyweight champion of the world“

The first rounds saw Valuev looking most confident and driving forward with some big body shots coming from both corners. Valuev was constantly jabbing while Haye kept out of range. Haye fought a smart, tactical fight. It soon became apparent that his tactic was to keep out of trouble, get some good point scoring shots in, and let his superior fitness carry him through the fight.

By the sixth round Valuev’s jabs were starting to land more and Haye’s hit rate continued to remain low. By the eighth Haye started to show some improvements by getting inside Valuev’s jab a few time to land some good punches.

Haye’s plan of avoiding Valuev continued through the 9th, 10th and 11th rounds. Valuev started to tire and was breathing heavily in between rounds, while Haye still looked fresh.

In the 12th round Hate let his fury and power unleash and landed a series of powerful blows that rocked Valuev.

Haye wins on points, the three judges scoring 114-114, 116-112, 116-112. A very close fight.

Hay proved that superior fitness and a defensive tactic can win a fight. He saved his energy and landed the punches that counted, and avoided Valuev’s iron fist. Watch this fight to learn how tactical fighting triumphs over brute strength.