On Saturday night (November 15) at The O2 in North Greenwich, David 'The Hayemaker' Haye emphatically tossed his name into the heavyweight hat with a brutal five-round demolition of perennial contender Monte 'Two Gunz' Barrett.
Deemed the ideal gatekeeper or barometer of Haye's heavyweight progress, New Yorker Barrett found himself overwhelmed and eventually stopped in chilling fashion by a Haye combination at 1.28 of the fifth round.
Speaking afterwards, the 28-year-old Haye admitted that Barrett "buzzed" him on occasion and revealed that the American's heavyweight bombs made cruiserweight punches pale in comparison.
"It was fun in there", said Haye, now 22-1 (21 KO) and a former WBC, WBA and WBO world cruiserweight champion. "Once someone buzzes me, that is when I then plant my feet and start swinging away. Adam (Booth, manager and trainer) goes crazy but the crowd love it.
"Barrett's jabs were the equivalent of a cruiserweight's right hand. That's something I'll have to get used to."
Barrett's danger, recklessness and wild sense of abandonment was noted beforehand and was swiftly and dramatically exemplified as he entered the glorious O2 Arena. Opting to take an ambitious run and jump over the top rope, Barrett ended up suffering his first heavy knockdown of the evening as he tripped and tumbled into the ring.
Triggering rapturous laughter and cheers from the 10,000-strong O2 crowd, Barrett bounced around in awkward attempts to shake off the humiliation.
In stark contrast, and now becoming something of a trademark, Haye swaggered and swayed his way to the ring with all the ease and saccharine of a matinee idol. Without a care in the world - and with no intention to hurdle the top rope - Haye soaked up the atmosphere in a scene duplicated from his March massacre against Enzo Maccarinelli.
Looking in tremendous shape at 226-pounds, Barrett flexed and stared at Haye as he slipped between the ropes. It was only now that the heavyweight realisation hit home.
Haye's trainer, Adam Booth, said in the aftermath: "Barrett looked massive in there. He looked strong and thick. David had got to his weight purely on boxing training - no weights. Barrett looked much bigger and he knew it."
Barrett's size was, ultimately, inconsequential. Haye, slimmer and sleaker at 215-pounds, used his ring savvy, hand speed and ability to keep Barrett guessing in order to steal positions. He jabbed well in the first round - to head and body - and would occassionally make Barrett miss or nervously fall short with his own punches. Often the mere threat of Haye's counter-shots forced Barrett to carry the look of an anxious man.
Things heated up in the second round as Barrett started to close the distance and take chances. Letting his hands go more freely, the 37-year-old Barrett started to ask Haye questions. He'd throw left hooks and swooping rights with the sole intention of taking Haye out. There was no plan to outbox Haye or set anything up. No delusions of a points win. Barrett was gunning for the one-punch knockout from the get-go.
Though carrying obvious danger, Barrett's recklessness played into Haye's hands. Never one to refuse a trade-off, Haye would punch with Barrett and often get their first given his superior hand speed and timing. Pivotally, this happened in the third round as Haye swung a wide left-hook that glanced off Barrett's chin and forced the American to stumble to the floor.
Stunned rather than hurt, Barrett climbed to his feet immediately.
The following onslaught from Haye was as frantic as it was inevitable. Throwing any sense of gameplan or tactics out the window, Haye put faith in wild right hands and left-hooks to try and force the stoppage. Meanwhile, Barrett - a fighter who loves to live on the edge - happily took his chances and traded with the quicker Haye.
With 20 seconds to run in the third round, Haye scored his second knockdown of the night, brought about via a cuffing right hand to the side of Barrett's head. The New Yorker stumbled forward on to his knees and took a deep breath. The heat was beginning to overwhelm him. He had nowhere to breathe, let alone run.
Despite making it out of the torrid third round, Haye's fire never relented. Legs now unsteady and self-doubt waiting at the door, Barrett fought like a man who knew his only chance was to get lucky. Self-applied assertions of him being the better boxer, the faster puncher and the bigger puncher were now rendered mere pipe dreams. All were false and Barrett knew it.
A third knockdown followed in the fourth as Haye made Barrett miss, poked him with a left-hook and spun out. Off balance, Barrett dropped to the floor. Complaining it was only a slip, Barrett rose quickly.
If the third knockdown was debatable, the fourth most certainly wasn't. With 20 seconds to go in the round, Barrett lurched forwards, flurried his hands and dramatically walked directly into a beautifully-picked Haye right uppercut. The shot sliced through Monte's non-existant guard and pierced the heavyweight's chin. Seemingly unconscious for a split second, Barrett dropped to the floor and snapped out of it.
Whilst on the floor, Barrett stared up at referee Richie Davies with the look of a man who didn't expect the kind of firepower he'd tasted. Now he was hurt. These weren't glancing blows or slips. Hauling himself up at nine, Barrett managed to just about see out the round on unsteady legs as Haye went in for the kill.
Out of time in the previous round, Haye had only one thing on his mind as he entered the fifth round. Hell-bent on finishing procedings as quickly as possible, Haye came out swinging - some landing, some missing - and nearly walked into trouble. Shooting wide with a right hand and left-hook, Haye squared up and was caught - almost pushed - to the floor by a Barrett left arm.
As Haye fell back onto the ring canvas, Barrett mercilessly followed up with a vicious left-hook to his grounded opponent. Referee Davies was given no alternative but to dock a point from Barrett for the illegal blow.
A little shaken by it all, Haye took a momentary time-out before re-commencing his destruction of Barrett. It took him only 20 seconds of the re-start to finish matters.
A hard left-hook, followed by an even harder straight right hand sent Barrett's head spinning, before Haye closed the show with a concussive left-hook. Barrett fell heavily and with no intention to rise again. The referee called off the count before he'd even begun.
The heavyweight 'Hayemaker' had arrived. Now a bonafide force in the heavyweight division, Haye's destruction of Barrett left ringsider Vitali Klitschko with one or two things to ponder in the coming months. Britain finally has a heavyweight to get excited about. Furthermore, the world finally has a heavyweight to get excited about.
Chief support at HAYEMAKER 2 saw Sheffield light-middleweight Ryan Rhodes comfortably outbox and outpoint South Africa's Vincent Vuma, claiming both Vuma's WBC International belt and a top-10 ranking in the process.
Calm and composed throughout, Rhodes, a natural counter-puncher, initiated most of the action behind his solid southpaw jab and fast left hand. Vuma, also a counter-puncher, was content to use his long arms and rangy style to try and lure Rhodes into mistakes. Sitting on the back foot throughout, Vuma would draw Rhodes in and then fire off combinations against the ropes.
Rhodes, a veteran of over 45 pro bouts, was simply too clever for Vuma. Sensing Vuma was only looking to pounce on mistakes, Rhodes kept them to a minimum. He dictated the tempo with his jab and flurried well to the body when he pinned Vuma to the ropes.
Vuma scored brief success in the third round when he opened up a nick above Rhodes' eye, but he failed to capitalise on any potential doubt creeping into Rhodes' mindset. Far too experienced and far too seasoned, Rhodes continued to out-punch Vuma, displaying greater hand-speed and greater work-rate.
A neck injury in the middle rounds threatened to slow Rhodes down, but, despite briefly feeling the pace through six and seven, the Sheffield hero caught his second wind and stayed one step ahead for the remainder of the contest. Vuma attempted to come on stronger during the middle rounds, but often found himself running into right-hook counter shots whenever he tried to force the action.
Ultimately, Vuma was too negative to counter-punch his way past Rhodes and too 'green' to try and force the fight. Rhodes made him pay, whether on the back foot or front foot. The Sheffield star got home via scores of 117-110, 116-111 and 116-112.
All in all, it was an accomplished showing from Rhodes and one that guarantees the British light-middleweight champion a top-10 ranking with the World Boxing Council. Afterwards, Rhodes, 31, admitted he felt as good as ever in beating the highly-touted Vuma.
"I was much better tonight than I was against Jamie Coyle (in September), and I probably had to be," admitted Rhodes, now 41-4 (27 KO). "Everything was flowing nicely and I felt like I could do pretty much what I wanted to do with him. I never felt in any doubt that I'd win. It was all about just out-boxing him and winning the rounds.
"I had him going a few times, but knew I had to be careful about finishing him off. These African guys don't go over easily and I just had to settle down and stick to my boxing.
"I'm over the moon with the win. I can't wait to one day fight for the WBC title."
The pick of the preliminaries was an intriguing six-rounder between Tottenham's Michael Grant and Stoke's Gary 'The Bodysnatcher' Reid. Deemed a competitive match going in, Reid's aggressiveness and TNT-packed right hand ensured the contest lived up to the pre-fight billing.
The younger man Grant attempted to box his way into the fight in the early going, utilising his superior handspeed and jab, as Reid tried to duck and dodge his way inside. Sensing his best chance would come up close, Reid was prepared to pass through Grant's jabs and occasional right hand to enable him to fight his own fight.
This tactic paid off for Reid in the third round as he found his 'bingo' punch - a hard right hand - which dropped Grant to the seat of his pants. Stunned rather than badly hurt, Grant hauled himself up and did his best to see out the round. Moving when he had to move and clinching when he had to clinch, Grant managed to weather the storm. Reid sensed his chance had gone.
Now wary of Reid's powerful right hand, Grant spent the remainder of the contest doing his best to avoid it. At times, he boxed brilliantly behind his jab and long right hand. When he created distance, the fight was routine for him. It was only when Reid hustled his way inside that Grant started to look ragged and unsure.
Thankfully for the former ABA champion, Reid failed to launch another 'bingo' right hand and had to settle for second place in a boxing lesson for the remaining two rounds. Grant, undoubtedly given the toughest test of his pro career, ran out a 58-55 points winner. He climbs to 11-0-1.
More dominant was the pro debut of amateur star 'The Saint' George Groves who impressively handled and dominated a six-rounder against Kirill Pshonko. A former two-time Senior ABA champion, Groves used all his sound foundations and textbook skills to outbox and outpunch Pshonko for every moment of the six rounds.
Unable to budge or seriously hurt the Latvian, Groves settled down and picked his punches superbly. His jab was sharp and effective and his punch-picking was a joy to behold. Sensing Pshonko was there for the long stretch, Groves realised he'd have to work openings behind a solid lead and well-placed body shots. He did just that.
Although the knockout didn't come, Groves will be delighted with the way he controlled the pace and flow of the six rounds. Ordinarily pro debutants cover four rounds on their first start - Groves did six and didn't for one moment look out of place. As his man strength and ring savvy increases, he'll find ways to unlock the kind of cagey Eastern Europeans that will no doubt litter the early stages of his pro career.
Kicking off the night, earlier than expected, was Peterborough's Michael Maguire, a feisty bantamweight with venom in either hand. He set about and, ultimately, tore apart Bulgarian opponent Iordan Vasilev in the opening round of a scheduled four.
Creating a frantic pace, Maguire let fly with a number of spiteful body shots and inside hooks. One left-hook in particular caught Vasilev flush on the spare rib and folded the brave Bulgarian in two. Unable to breathe, let alone move, Vasilev dropped to the floor and remained there for the full 10-count. The win marked Maguire's second pro victory.
The 'floater' bout of the night saw John Watson wait, wait some more and wait even more before finally letting all his pent-up frustration out on Silence Saheed over four fast-paced rounds. Hooking well to head and body, Watson proved to be too quick and sharp for the Nigerian-born Saheed - noted for his durability and knack of giving prospects trouble.
Watson dropped Saheed in the second round but, sensing his opponent isn't easily Silenced, settled down and boxed the rest of the way. The classy Liverpudlian showed great punch variety and inside skills as he dominated each of the four rounds, running out a 40-35 points winner. He now moves to 9-0 (4 KO).
Fellow Liverpudlian Joe McNally sent a stark warning to the rest of the British light-middleweight division as he blitzed the normally-durable Lester Walsh inside three rounds. Finally fighting someone his own weight - McNally often appears against heavier foes - the carnage was there for all to see.
Hitting harder and looking more explosive than usual, McNally picked apart Walsh with ease, eventually stopping him via body shots and hurtful straight lefts in the third.
It was the second stoppage win of his six-bout career and McNally managed to halt a man in Walsh who had never been stopped before. Onwards and upwards for the hard-hitting Scouse southpaw, now 6-0 (2 KO).
Full Results From HAYEMAKER2:
David Haye W KO 5 Monte Barrett
Ryan Rhodes W UD 12 Vincent Vuma
Michael Grant W PTS 6 Gary Reid
John Watson W PTS 4 Silence Saheed
Joe McNally W RSF 3 Lester Walsh
Michael Maguire W KO 1 Iordan Vasilev
George Groves W PTS 6 Kirill Pshonko