David is brash and cocky and uses the press conferences as a media spectacle rather than an honest interaction with the media before a big fight. He wants to rile his opponents into forgetting their game plan and trying to hurt him. His speed around the ring as a former Cruiserweight World Champion helps him quickly turn the fight in his favour if this happens. He has fast hands and a big heart and plenty of confidence, all the ingredients of a top boxer.

After winning the WBA belt Haye must now fight John Ruiz who is the mandatory challenger for his title. Despite Ruiz being an experienced and durable heavyweight most boxing fans would expect Haye to beat Ruiz. This fight is scheduled to be arranged for around March 2010. Haye will undoubtedly be heavily supported in the betting markets for this fight so I will be getting in early to get the best price as any value will be immediately snapped up by loyal punters who support the Hayemaker. Look out for the fight announcement as odds will be available soon after for that fight.

Providing Haye dispatches the challenge of Ruiz there will be massive calls for him to finally step in the ring with one of the Klitschko brothers. Wladimir would be the obvious choice for me but the better fighter of the two, Vitali, would be a bigger box office draw and perhaps that is the obvious first brother to face Haye. I hope that Haye fights Wladimir first because if he can win that fight he will then go on to face Vitali in what would be a bigger fight. At the moment Vitali looks very good in the ring handily beating Kevin Simpson in a twelve round contest where Simpson, despite a gritty and brave performance, looked thoroughly outclassed against Vitali Klitschko.

If Haye fights Wladimir first then it gives father time longer to work on Vitali. He would be 39 by the time a fight occurred at the back end of 2010 or early 2011 and the additional delay before they meet would build the hype further and earn them more money. If age becomes a factor for Vitali Haye may win more easily than people expect. Haye would not have been favourite fighting either of the Klitschko brothers last year and perhaps the two fight cancellations will work out well for him by training more and allowing age to become a factor for the brothers.

If Haye was to fight Vitali now and lose it would be unlikely that Wladimir would be seen as a step up in class as it is widely regarded that Vitali is the best Klitschko. If Haye really wants to beat both, he must fight Wladimir first. Boxing betting fans would be heavily involved in both fights for sure with plenty of special and outright betting.

David Haye will be enjoying a good Christmas and New Year with his family with his future mapped out clearly for him. All he must do is win his boxing bouts and money, fame and his legacy will take care of itself. I expect he will easily beat Ruiz and look to set up a fight against Wladimir for around November 2010. After winning that fight he would look to face Vitali in a Heavyweight boxing superfight in around March or April 2011 and he has indicated that after those three fights he would probably retire.

We British boxing fans will continue to support him during this interesting boxing period and get some profitable bets on hopefully in the process!

By Malcolm Clarke

I managed to chat to a few sports betting fans who had thought the fight might be close, but when a fighter like Khan takes to the ring, win or lose sometimes the fights are short. They went home happy when their boxing bets backing Khan to win at odds of around 1.30 came in so they could collect a nice win.

We arrived at the arena at around 6pm and there was a fight already in the ring when the stewards opened the doors and let the audience in. There was a young fighter called Ritchie Heffron from Liverpool making his professional debut and he won after two one sided rounds after his opponent suffered an arm injury. Other fights followed in quick succession, with James De Gale, Billy-Jo Saunders and Frankie Gavin all earning their next win in their fledgling professional careers. Frankie Gavin had a hard fight, we saw him talking to someone at the back of the floor area and his face showed signs of a tough battle. Alex Arthur lost to a local fighter and that drew a nice cheer from the partisan crowd who cheered Nigel Wright from Crook to victory.

Watching the boxing live comes highly recommended. There were a couple of punch-ups in the crowd behind where we were sitting because some people got a little over excited and had a drink but overall the atmosphere was lively but sensible. We left eager to return again in the future. We even caught a glimpse of David Haye as he entered the arena to watch the action and laughed at a few fans who walked past him and then suddenly realised that the new Heavyweight champion of the world had just passed by and gaped in amazement!

What can boxing betting fans look out for in future fights? Shane Mosley fights Andre Berto for the WBC Welterweight belt and Mosley is favourite at 1.45 to defeat Berto who has odds of 2.75 for the victory. That fight takes place on January 31st 2010 in the USA so watching that fight means staying up late at 3.00am if you are in the UK. Keep an eye on bwin announcing details of their live streaming for those who like in-play betting on boxing fights.

The biggest fight of 2010, and for many years it can be argued, will be the showdown between Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao. Manny has enjoyed high profile victories and looked highly impressive during wins over Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto. Sunday March 14th 2010 is the prospective date for this bout although final details are still being ironed out by the respective camps.

Mayweather, because he is undefeated, is 1.67 to win this bout, whilst Pacquiao has odds of 2.25 for the victory. The draw is 19.00. This will be a classic bout for not only the reputations of the fighters but in the contrast of styles. Mayweather is the best defensive boxer in recent years, perhaps of all time, whilst Pacquiao is certainly the most devastating pound for pound puncher currently boxing professionally. Boxing fans are licking their lips at the prospect of this fight. I believe the 2.25 is a good price for Pacquiao as Mayweather has only fought twice in two years, although he keeps himself in excellent physical shape between fights.

It is rumoured that the fight will take place either at the MGM grand or at an American Football stadium where up to 100,000 fans could be in attendance. One not to be missed for any sports betting fan.

Look out for a big year in 2010 for boxing fans and boxing betting fans.

By Malcolm Clarke

Boxing correspondent Mike Costello believes that Floyd Mayweathers defensive ability would present a far more difficult night for Pacquiao than his recent fights, where his opponents favoured a more attacking approach, which proved unsuccessful. Mayweather is fast but from a defensive standpoint very difficult to beat and it would be an intriguing boxing contest. Boxing betting fans will have to wait for a little while for this fight. The respective camps will let demand rise before cashing in on what would be one of the all time great fights in my opinion. I think the odds for this one would be very close, time will tell.

I am going to the post office tomorrow morning to collect my tickets for the Amir Khan versus Dmitriy Salita fight at Newcastle on December 5th. The undercard sees an eliminator between the undefeated Kevin Mitchell and Amir Khan’s sole conqueror Breidis Prescott. Whoever wins this will face Khan if he overcomes Salita and a rematch again Prescott would certainly attract plenty of attention. Both fighters have a lot to contend with before that fight occurs.

The undercard of Amir Khan’s fight is excellent which is great for me because it was unannounced when I ordered my tickets. James De Gale, Frankie Gavin and Billy-Jo Saunders all continue their careers with their next pro fight. All three of these fighters are products of the Amateur 2008 Beijing Olympic squads. At present, they fight on the same cards building their records and learning their trade and so far they all remain undefeated. Frankie Gavin was forced to miss the Olympics after failing to make weight but certainly looks as good as the media said he was and is a useful boxer. He has talked of having a title fight in around one year’s time so it will be excited to see how these three fighters do on December 5th.

Boxing betting fans looking to have a bet on Amir Khan’s fight can back him to win at odds of 1.12 with Salita available at odds of 5.50 from bwin.com. The draw is an unlikely outcome due to the explosive Khan style but those fancying it can back the draw at odds are 34.00. My predictions for this fight are that Khan will be looking to keep things defensively tight and this means an early knock out is unlikely. I think he may stop the fight in rounds five six or seven if he sees an opportunity and the odds for this to occur are currently 11.00, 12.00 and 13.00 respectively. If Khan sets his sights on out-pointing his opponent using good defensive boxing then the odds for Khan to win on points are currently 3.25. This is the tactic the bookmakers are favouring.

Khan has been criticised in the past for a gung-ho approach that saw him knocked out badly by Prescott. His chin is also suspect so employing a defensive approach and using his foot speed and hand speed keeps the fight based on his strengths and this will be the probable tactics his corner wants him to employ. Opponents look to engage Amir in a war knowing he is vulnerable to the big shot. I think once Khan stops engaging and boxes to his strengths he could be a long term world boxing champion in the mould of a Lennox Lewis.

Boxing betting is attractive for sports betting fans at the moment with the sheer quality of the matches on offer.

By Malcolm Clarke

I watched the contest on pay-per-view and personally thought Haye was too negative and can count himself a little lucky to be the victor in the fight. He did a great job of dodging any offence from Valuev but could easily have been penalised on the scorecards for avoiding the action and not engaging. Valuev kept coming forward but was not doing anything against Haye. This may have been the deciding factor. Haye hurt Valuev in the last round and looked close to knocking him down. He certainly came through the fight looking fit and did not slow down throughout the twelve rounds. The judges felt Hayes skill in avoiding the big fighter was enough for the win.

British boxing is in a healthy situation now. We have a number of great prospects coming through in James De Gale, Frankie Gavin and Billy-Jo Saunders along with Amir Khan and Heavyweights like Sam Sexton and Martin Rogan. Even Audley Harrison won prizefighter and despite a few characteristic slow rounds, looked good doing it. The future is bright, and Haye is the standard bearer of them all. Comparisons are being made to the great Mohammed Ali who was also brash and confident as a champion.

Haye will now look to recover from his hand injury and start working his way through the queue of opponents now lined up to face him as champion. His next fight will be against John Ruiz who successfully fought on the undercard of Haye and Valuev thus earning himself a shot at the title. Ruiz is a good fight for Haye. He is not as fast as David and offers a gradual step up in class towards the fighters that Haye really wants to fight in the Klitschko brothers. I believe he will fight Vitali first, and then if successful Vladimir, who looked excellent in his last fight. Haye also has the benefit of being 29, whilst Vitali is 38 and age can catch up with a fighter quickly.

It will certainly be exciting to follow and support David Haye in his next three fights where should he win; he would have to be considered the best Heavyweight boxer in the world at that point.

I questioned whether 1.72 was too short from bwin.com but evidently they knew got it right. There are plenty of boxing betting odds at bwin.com with the next big fight being the Catchweight (145lbs) contest between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, in what promises to be another classic. “Packman” is currently favourite at 1.45 with Cotto at odds of 2.70. The draw is 23.00. That fight is on November 15^th.

British fans are looking forward to the Amir Khan fight against New York fighter Dmitriy Salita where Khan is strong favourite at odds of 1.12 to win that fight. Salita is not pushover and can be backed at odds of 5.50 with the draw priced at 34.00. That fight is on December 5^th at the Newcastle Arena. I have tickets to that fight for my first live boxing experience so I cannot wait.

Keep your eyes on all the boxing action this autumn and winter at bwin.com.

By Malcolm Clarke