I wasn't impressed with Haye at all...

[El Cepillo]

Was similar to the Barrett fight. He seems to have regressed.

[Black2023]

Originally Posted by scurlaruntings

Despite Haye being heavy handed he's not a text book puncher which is a shame. Booth is doing a great job but i think Manny Steward would do wonders for Hayes technique and conditioning. So far Haye is getting by on talent alone. Like he said he's an athlete but he can do so much more if he fine tunes his game and deals with the obvious flaws if he wants to have a long tenure at heavy.

Spot on.......we shouldnt get carried away.....Haye is destined to be guys like Ruiz, I felt inside 4 or 5 rounds would have done the job.....he needs to push himself that extra yard for improvements becuase tougher tests on there way.

Its like the 80s heavyweights being relaxed and not being bothered by going the full distance, every fight seemed slow and unispired........then when Tyson came he brought a whole new level......then you had to bring the level up.......same now......from 2003 to 2008 the heavies were bad, ruiz won many becuase other guys came in bad shape, Toney who himself was in bad shape was getting away with beating a few big boys which i still cant see happening in the mid 90s if toney moved up, Vitali wasnt around, and Vlad still had flaws.

[Black2023]

Originally Posted by ishy

The man himself admits he wasn't at his best:

I agree, that wasn't David Haye at his best last night. Some of his sharpness and reflexes were lacking. Maybe he didn't need that extra weight?

As others have said, the jab was working great for him but he wasn't working it enough. The right hand, however, was being timed beautifully all night.

Based on that performance he would struggle more than I though against the Klitschko's but we've got to look at it from a styles viewpoint.

Ruiz was walking forward all night (alright he wasn't cutting the ring off but he was coming forward) and the Klits don't do that. Do you think Wlad will be walking Haye down? Will he fuck, he'll want to keep his distance and get his jab going before sending the long, straight rights over.

I've said this before but Haye reckons he performs better against taller as opposed to shorter opponents and I'm inclined to agree with him. Look at the Frag, Mormeck fights where Haye had some trouble. Then look at the Valuev, Enzo Macc and Gurov fights.

He has loads of work to do....they need to set up a fight for 2 months time, let him take 2 weeks off and then do a 6 week camp and work on conditioning and technique....bring C. Polquin, or Statley two excellente conditioning coaches.

When i saw Vlad aginst Rahman i thought Haye had him.....but Vlad improved since then.

[Strike]

Originally Posted by ishy

I've said this before but Haye reckons he performs better against taller as opposed to shorter opponents and I'm inclined to agree with him. Look at the Frag, Mormeck fights where Haye had some trouble. Then look at the Valuev, Enzo Macc and Gurov fights.

That is a good point. A guy a couple of inches taller than him would be ideal, so in terms of height Wlad would be more suited to Haye than Ruiz was.

[pathmanc1986]

ive been watching a few haye fights, enzo macc mormek obviously ruiz bonin gurov etc and ive decided that im onboard the ship, i really really like watching this guy fight.


he is great for raising boxings profile in the mainstream media and the division itself.i want him to fight one klitsckho and then fight the other in a super fight in a stadium-i think he could beat them tbh. wlad has shown that he can be stopped before and haye will give him in and out from angles something he will hate cos it nullifies some of the effectiveness of his jab and he needs that for his straight right. vitali may be a different story but theres no doubt hes not the same fighter he was-check out his fighting style and speed from lewis sanders williams, its night and day. i dont know if he can be stopped but haye could concivably get ref stoppage or decision. good luck to him

[Darni187]

Haye needs to improve his workrate, fittness, more jabs, and a higher guard at times. These are the areas i feel he needs to improve in to have any chance vs the Kilts, last night was good, but not great.

[djoc175]

Originally Posted by Addie

They are? People are excited to watch David Haye fight. They come away satisfied that they just a big, talented guy look for a knockout.

Arreola looks for a knockout but he can't get in shape, and Wladimir is like watching paint dry. Haye has made things more interesting, no question.

I think so, yes. He has added something no question but let's relax. As for people being excited to see Haye, well the Klitschko brothers are more popular than Haye. I'm not convinced Haye could sell out a 50,000+ arena fighting Eddie Chambers.

[mcguirpa]

Originally Posted by Darni187

Haye needs to improve his workrate, fittness, more jabs, and a higher guard at times. These are the areas i feel he needs to improve in to have any chance vs the Kilts, last night was good, but not great.

You know you're right. If he improved in all these aspects of his game he'd have a real chance of being a contender on the world stage, and perhaps taking an alphabet title.

Oh. Hang on a minute...

Only in Britain could a boxer put in a performance like last night's and then get a thread saying 'I wasn't impressed at all'

It beggars fucking belief. In fact it's verging on retarded.

Sure, Haye is not perfect. Personally I think his footwork's a mess, and many of his flaws (maybe even including his tendency to gas easily) stem from that.

But to say you're not impressed at all? After he inflicted a brutal and bloody beatdown on an opponent many have had difficulty with. I think you need to go and watch another sport. Cause you obviously have no fucking idea about this one.

If Haye was a yank, the Americans would be shouting him from the rooftops right now.

[hagman1989]

what is saw last night was that e has power in both hands

i think hes got the perfect style to stay out of range the klits jabs with ease -then hope to get his own punches off

[KCD]

The fight was exciting i thought last night, but that doesnt mean it was a good performance by Haye.

Ruiz was 38 and had only 1 fight in 19months he was perfect foil for Haye to look untouchable. Infact apart from the first knockdown i thought Haye was very sloppy throughout the fight.

He had no jab what so ever and at times, just like the Barrett fight he was being backed up to the ropes off Ruiz's jab.

Haye's stamina as people have spoken about looked suspect. After the fight in the interview Haye was pretty fucked.

As for his defence i thought again it was poor, but whilst Haye can be regarded as a slock fighter, i have never bought into him being a defensive genius. Throughout his career he has always been fairly easy to hit.

As for the proposed Klitschko fight, as a Klitschko fan i say sooner the better because i think Haye has fallen in love with his power and his technique is slowly eroding.

[threethirteen]

Originally Posted by Black2023

Yeah in heavyweight history?

Wladimir has a better claim than Vitali and he's nowhere near the top 25. On what criteria could you rank Vitali so high? Beating Kirk Johnson? Chris Arreola? Kevin Johnson? Sam Peter?

I'm struggling to think of Vitali's best win - it's probably against Peter who has no place in any argument about great heavyweights.

Vitali's very good, but the praise he gets is disproportionate to what he's actually done in the ring.

[Claypole]

Whilst I agree that Haye's stamina may be an issue, he seemed to pace himself well enough. Ruiz is an experienced, tough fighter who knows how do 12 rounds at the top level, but he was the one who looked like he had nothing left towards the end.

Haye was breathing heavily after only about 3 rounds, but then he always does. To find those big punches in the 9th to end the fight was pretty impressive for a guy with suspect stamina.

[Black2023]

Originally Posted by threethirteen

Wladimir has a better claim than Vitali and he's nowhere near the top 25. On what criteria could you rank Vitali so high? Beating Kirk Johnson? Chris Arreola? Kevin Johnson? Sam Peter?

I'm struggling to think of Vitali's best win - it's probably against Peter who has no place in any argument about great heavyweights.

Vitali's very good, but the praise he gets is disproportionate to what he's actually done in the ring.

All time greatness is subjective to say the least......you and i could be arguing from totally different perspectives......i place a lot on head to head and include legacy.....but not as much some people.

For me Vitali is a top 25 all time......

Anything pre 1908 and your stretching fella you really are.....the footage just inst good enough.

Jack Johnson
Jack Dempsey
Gene Tunney
Joe Louis

Footage after this is far better-

R. Marciano
S. Liston
M. Ali
J. Frazier
G. Foreman
L. Holmes
M. Tyson
L. Lewis
R.Bowe
E. Holyfield
Vitali Klit and by the looks of it his brother Vladimir.


K.Johnson, D. Williams, C. Sanders, S. Peter, JC Gomez, C. Arreloa, the losing efforts to Byrd and Lewis...its not a bad list.

[Mandanda]

Haye will never fight a completely perfect fight because he fights with a risk element. His instinct is to knock his opponent out and he has never ever been a master technician but he aim's to improve with each fight and camp and i think people are nitpicking. He does have some skills but he also has bad habits from his amateur days.

He caught Ruiz early and like many other fighters before him can throw them off the job at hand as they simply want to get job done. He showed some great things and some not so great things but it was a emphatic victory and with each fight he gets more and more into the weight and i expect if he fought either of the Klits he would be 100% prepared to do the job.

[djoc175]

Originally Posted by Black2023

K.Johnson, D. Williams, C. Sanders, S. Peter, JC Gomez, C. Arreloa, the losing efforts to Byrd and Lewis...its not a bad list.

Don't forget Ross Purrity! That list is pretty horrendous if you're talking about someone in terms of top 25 ATG