The O2 Arena in London hosts the return of hard hitting British Heavyweight David Haye on Saturday, January 16th when Hay faces Australia’s Mark de Mori in a 12-round bout. Haye has not fought in more than three years, but he is heavily favored paying (-3200) for this bout, with de Mori returning at (+1600). The over/under is set at 6 1/2, with the over paying ( +220) and the under returning at (-300). Haye is a former Cruiserweight and Heavyweight world titleholder, and he has a career record of (26-2). Haye has a bombastic personality, and he is a polarizing figure in British boxing. He has 24 KOs in his 26 wins, and is still just 35 years old. In July of 2011, Haye fought Wladimir Klitschko in a match that saw him take the dominant champion the distance. Overall, Haye’s performance against Klitschko was hampered by an injured foot and was generally criticized as lackluster. Haye fought and beat Dereck Chisora a year later, in July of 2012 and that was the last we have seen of him. In De Mori (30-1-2) he is facing a tough and rugged fighter who has fought all over the world and won. The loss and two draws on his record all came a decade ago, and he has won 21 fights in a row. De Mori too has a strong KO ratio, having scored 26 stoppages in his 30 victories. Though he has a lot of fights under his belt, this is certainly the highest profile bout and opponent de Mori has ever had. After much talk, the match will air on “Dave” television in the United Kingdom. Haye’s return has generated a lot of publicity, but Haye wants to be at the absolute pinnacle of the sport. Being relegated to “Dave”, a smaller channel, shows that his relevance has waned with the English public. All the while, Haye has talked about moving on to bigger fights and re-estabishing himself in the division, even calling out British Heavyweight protege Anthony Joshua. None of this sits well with de Mori, who feels he is being looked past. Haye has always been a big talker, but you do have to give de Mori credit for his defiant stance in the pre-fight hype. Realistically, de Mori only has to look decent in a loss to assure future work in the crowded heavyweight division. If they do come in and slug it out, Haye will likely have advantages in speed and delivery that will make this a short fight. The undercard may or may not get more attention from the sport books, as the event is really all about Haye and the promoters have failed to secure any big names for the rest of the fights.
