AMBITIONS don?t just land in the lap of the beholder. Recognising what we deem to be our destiny is the easy part of a journey we can all begin but few complete. David Haye?s arduous expedition towards the pinnacle of the heavyweights, the glamorous land of the dangerous giants, is reaching the end.
In a rampant Hamburg on Saturday night the mouthy Londoner will suck in the hostile electricity and taste his dreams flagrantly fizzing in the air. He?ll be so close to the climax he?ll be able to touch it. And crucially, I believe, Haye is focused and primed to knock Wladimir Klitschko out of his way and triumphantly cross one of sport?s most elusive finish lines.
Three years after Haye was born with an array of natural gifts he looked up to his parents and told them he wanted to be a boxer. By 2001 he?d proved himself to be one of the finest amateur fighters in the world. His deliberate journey was flourishing and it was David who was shaping it.
?One day I?d like to emulate Evander Holyfield and become a two-weight world champion at cruiserweight and then at heavyweight,? he stated 12 months later, before injury ruled him out of the Commonwealth Games. Within six years, he had achieved part one when he journeyed to Paris and ripped the cruiserweight crown off the dizzy head of local hero Jean Marc Mormeck.
And here we are, a further five fights down, a WBA heavyweight belt added to his muscled waist, and a chance to prove he?s the No.1 big man in the world. The ambition he created for himself can soon become achievement. None of it has been easy, hard work has been involved at every corner and each turn has been carefully planned.
Along the way, his noisy bragging has caused many to spin away in disgust. Certain fans have wanted to see him knocked out because he has been so forward with his boasts. Self-promotion is rarely welcomed in the land of the mediocre. In truth, so far at least, each of his noisy promises became scripts for the violent truths that followed. It is one thing to despise a man for incessant righteousness, but it is bordering on jealousy to hate a man for proving himself time and time again.
I understand that he can be guilty of tastelessness. Predicting that his fight with Audley Harrison would be ?as one-sided as a gang rape? was not his finest hour but it undoubtedly increased attention, and receipts, for the mismatch. His infamous t-shirts depicting images of the decapitated Klitschkos was reckless but undoubtedly a factor in the making of Saturday?s showdown.
Were they any more offensive than Muhammad Ali calling Joe Frazier an ?Uncle Tom? while hammering away at a toy gorilla or harassing Sonny Liston outside his house in the middle of the night? What about Tony Galento informing Joe Louis of his sexual plans for Mrs Louis in the 1930s? Controversy sells, it frustrates opponents, and in this case, David Haye?s incredible imagination has attracted the welcome glare of the sporting media on the all too often ignored world of boxing.
So whatever happens in Germany – perhaps the haters will be left grinning smugly when he gets knocked out early or maybe they?ll be forced to feel admiration after a glorious success – David Haye has earned the right to live the dream. And not many of us can say that.
Thanks for reading.
