The ironic thing is that Haye - self-proclaimed Mr. Excitement - has been invovled in three of the worst HW snoozefests of the last 25 years: 1: Audley 2: Valuev 3: Wlad When will people realize this isn't about "good fights" or "exciting fights". Money is all that matters. And you make money by winning, even if the fight stinks.
i thought Haye fought way to cagey. And i actually thought he was lucky to get the decision. Holyfield beat Valuev more convincingly and got robbed, and although i gave the fight to Haye, it was a close fight, and he was lucky to get the nod. I enjoyed the fight as i wanted Haye to win, and i found it intriguing. But take away the vested interest in the outcome, and its a very boring heavyweight fight.
Now Haye vs Wlad, thats an underrated fight. It gets stick because the expectations were so high. But i thought that fight was exciting! It was fought at a very high skill level.
Haye throwing clubfighter style hayemakers and flopping to the floor was high skill level? Wlad stepping forward, then stepping backward while grabbing & holding? I mean seriously. The skill level both boxers displayed was disgraceful - compared to both boxers' capabilities. Both were looking for risk-free ways to win the fight and thus turned it into an ugly contest.
Was shocked he got the decsion at the time, especially considering Mowg-Haye's performance fell short of Holyfield's vs Valuev.
I don't think Haye deserved the hate he got from the fight. I concur the toe excuse was laughable but everything else? For those who thought that Haye would simply change the way he had been fighting for most of his professional career overnight were simply naive. Cut the Trash Talk Hype I never expected him to go balls to the wall. :conf I personally was severely disappointed I must admit. It's sad because technically I think it's a good fight. I find myself re-watching rounds of Wladimir's control of distance behind his Jab and Haye's defensive skills on the back foot. I think Wlad underestimated how hard it is to hit Haye's speed & footwork and vice versa. On another note look how HBO hyped up Mitchell against Banks who had no particular big time experience and limited skillset. I don't want to get into a race war BS but I think if Haye was US-Based HBO would find many ways to justify his Toe excuse against Wladimir.
IMO it seemed a financial thing more than anything else from the whores at the WBA. Why would they let a near 50-old Champion (And I agree Holyfield was definitely robbed) win the title? He was at (should have) the end of career, there was no profit to make from his investment. Once they got Haye as WBA Champion it made more sense to fight Wladimir for a real unification fight WBA, IBO, WBO, IBF & Ring Magazine titles. Haye did the smart thing to win. It's ****ed up but it is what it is. :-(
Well he was hardly going to go tow to toe and get into a hugging mtahc with some guy who was nearly a foot taller and 100lbs heavier. Poy shotting was the only way to go
Valuev had already announced that he was thinking about retirement and Haye (who was a bigger draw than Valuev) signed a promotional agreement with Valuev's promoter to get the fight that ensure they got to co-promote him for his next three fights or something like that. So the promoter of the show actually made more money from Haye winning.
rubbish. You make money by generating hype and selling tickets/ppv buys. A lot of good fighters miss the boat because they aren't mouthy gits.