When you look at most of Wlad's defences during his so called "second reign", the Haye fight was one of the more competitive ones. Going into the fight many were calling it a 50/50 and a competitive match up too.
But the toe... Though defensively I thought he was good. Was among the most anticlimactic fights I’ve seen though...
We must be getting close to a full house now for Haye bullsh*t bingo in this thread. Think we just need him to have been robbed of Olympic gold and the Thompson fight to have been stopped too soon to complete the set. That's how I see the fight playing out apart the ending. Haye against Wlad showed that he could survive against big punchers, and showed surprising physical strength against Chisora and wasn't bullied around. Haye was very dangerous early, but he also carried power late. Bruno had a history of coming apart in the later rounds; stopped late by Smith and Witherspoon, and even against McCall he was hanging on after dominating the fight. Bruno in the late rounds against anyone who could punch and finish is going to be very dicey. Even against Wlad, Haye was swinging for the fences in the last round. Bruno's jab would be a big problem for Haye, but as long as he doesn't get beaten down he's got a good chance in the second half of the fight.
Haye arguably lost to Valuev. He looked awful VS Wlad. Think height and reach with a gob jab. You have to make Bruno favorite.
Even if you said arguably lost a round I'd not have a clue what round you were talking about. Haye went over to Germany and toyed with the ogre, wobbled him and got him dancing.
I was there sitting right behind George Foreman in the 3rd row and all Haye done that night was dance away from the action. Not once did he have a go and all he cared about was the end of the fight so he could count his PPV loot. The 10,000 Brits in the Imtech Arena jeered him all the way back to the dressing room after it became evident that they had all been conned.
Argubly.. The cards were a bit strange. Big Val got cashed out one judge scoring it a draw etc Yep Haye got him dancing late on but that was it - for reference an ancient Holyfield did a better job on Valuev than Haye did. At heavy Haye was nothing special an excellent cruiser but as a heavy i'd always back the genuine world level fighter
This content is protected We're entitled to them but I don't agree with that about Holyfield, Haye put in a better performance than he did. Let's not forget that Evander was almost certainly a juicer for f**king years!!!
With Valuev, you just need to do what you have to do to get the W. It wasn't the most inspiring fight to watch; if anything it was one of the worst heavyweight title fights I've ever witnessed. However, Valuev presented a unique challenge and one that needed a certain approach. Maybe if Haye had wobbled him earlier in the fight it may have turned out differently, but up until then Valuev had looked pretty much invulnerable throughout his career. I seem to recall Haye hurt his hand early in the fight as well. The win shouldn't be blown up into anything that it wasn't, but equally it's a good enough win to have and we shouldn't criticise Haye for failing to do what Chagaev and others couldn't either.
Once Toegate happened, it is hard to believe anything coming out of the mouth of Haye. Very slick and sounds credible delivering lies to the public - right up there with Eh Day Earn
The Tony Bellew was a cynical cash out fight for Haye and Bellew. Haye was way past his best by then and managed to con alot of people into thinking he still had something left. When we refer to the Haye who went to Germany and decisioned Valuev, we are referring to an elite HW. That is an elite HW win too.
