How would Haye rank all time if...?

Hearns is also a good example of this. H2H at 147 he would give anyone fits (easily Top 5 IMHO) but his resume at the weight puts him down the list of ATGs at welter.

 

Love the avatar. 3 heads, 1 chin.

 

Not sure what you mean. Hearns was virtually unbeatable at Welterweight. As Muhammed Ali said about Hearns in 1977 "Hearns is just awesome" and boy was he devastating. One of the reasons the Great Sugar Ray Leonard who incidentally I cannot stand as a man is rightly considered a true ATG is because he found a way to beat the unbeatable Hearns. The only people I can put higher than Hearns at Welterweight is Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson. I think Hearns might be marginally higher than Tito Trinidad.

 

If Haye achieved the latter, i.e. he beat the Klitschko's which would do most of the damage, then picked up the remaining belt from whoever just for achievement and official purposes. Then...defended it a few times so we can say he made a certain number of defences of THE heavyweight title... I could see only Fitzsimmons as having a case for being head of him on a British list.

That would make him top 30 all-time overall.

That being possible in so few fights tells you the sort of obstacles ahead of him, and also the size of the tasks, quite literally.

 

He beats Barrett, then Wlad, and retires.

Britain, folk legend

America, Virtually ignored

He Unifies at heavy by beating Barrett, Wlad, and Valuev - retires.


Britain, legend

America, Virtually ignored


He becomes undisputed HW champ by beating Barret, Wlad, Valuev, and Vitali...then retires.


Britain, folk legend

America, grudgingly respected

 

Are you sure about that? I mean where is the respect for Calzaghe?

 

You are probably right, he would still be a bum in the yanks eyes having never beaten a top american