By Ian S Palmer
British heavyweight David Haye returns to the ring after a three-and-a-half-year absence this Saturday, January 16th when he takes on Mark de Mori of Perth, Australia at the O2 Arena in London, England. The 10-round bout can be seen live in the UK on the free Dave TV network. The 35-year-old Haye has decided to return to boxing to cash in on the sudden-popularity of British heavyweights such as Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Haye realizes if he can win a few fights he might be able to land a big-money fight against either one of those two opponents in a huge domestic showdown. There’s a good chance he’d beat the overrated and overhyped Fury, but beating Joshua would be another story. Anyway, he’s get to get past De Mori first on Saturday night before he makes any plans for a second fight.
Haye is a former world heavyweight and cruiserweight champion who sports a record of 26-2 with 24 Kos. His two career losses came against Wladimir Klitschko in a dull unanimous decision back in 2011 and a fifth-round TKO to Carl Thompson in 2004. With 24 Kos in 26 wins it’s obvious that Haye possesses a lot of power in his punches and that’s verified by his knockout ratio of 86 percent. He stands 6-feet-3-inches tall with a reach of 78 inches. He’s fought 119 rounds since turning pro back in 2002. Haye’s biggest wins have been against the likes of Jean Marc Mormeck, Monte Barrett, Enzo Maccarinelli, Nikolay Valuev, John Ruiz, Audley Harrison and Dereck Chisora. His last bout was against Chisora in July of 2012.
The 33-year-old De Mori enters the ring with a fine record of 30-1-2 with 26 Kos to his name. He’s 6-foot-2,and has an unlisted reach. De Mori, who now makes his home in Croatia, also has good power and owns a knockout ratio of 79 per cent. He turned pro back in 2004 and has fought 118 rounds since then. His lone defeat came at the hands of John Wyborn by a first-round Ko in 2009 and he has six-round draws against Alex Leapai in 2004 and Elisara Sii Uta in 2006. De Mori’s biggest wins have been against Ed Mahone, Rob Calloway and Damon Reed. His last fight was a first-round TKO over Marcel Zeller in October.
De Mori has power, but he hasn’t faced the same level of opposition that Haye has. But, he’s managed to take care of most of his opponents with the majority of his wins being by stoppage. Given the fact that Haye has been stopped and rocked on a few occasions, and has a reckless style, De Mori has a solid puncher’s chance here. This is especially true as he’s facing an opponent who has been out of action for as long as Haye has. Haye will be the favourite though and that’s understandable due to his experience and the fact that he’s a former two-weight world champion.
The Australian taught himself to box after watching old fights on You Tube, but has a habit of keeping his hands too low. He moved to Croatia just over two years ago and is trained by the 34-year-old Marijo Sivolija, who is a former two-time Olympian from 2004 and 2008. De Mori also gets advice and tips from former heavyweight champ Tim Witherspoon. He isn’t the fastest starter in the world though and needs to make sure he doesn’t get caught early by one of Haye’s haymakers.
Prediction
Haye may have some rust to shake off and he also needs to make sure he isn’t caught cold early on by one of De Mori’s power shots. This fight should offer up plenty of action and Haye can’t afford to take his hard-hitting opponent lightly. Haye is expected to win this fight and he should, likely by stoppage, but fans shouldn’t be shocked if Haye is the one who is stopped either since three years out of the ring may be too much for him to handle.
