I don't get this.. Wlad - Haye couldn't happen on the 20th. Wlad - Chagaev can. The hate for this fight seems to be coming from Haye fans. Now i'm a big Haye fan, and i do believe he has a genuine back injury and as he said today in the BBC interview, end of july before he can start boxing again. I've defended Haye from Klitschko fans the last few days who endless say he backed out because he's scaried. (Backing out because Setanta not having any money to paid him is more believable story :yep) Now i'm gonna defend Wlad, he's done everything possible to keep the 20th date alive for fans, TV people and himself. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that Sauerland and King got scaried that Valuev was gonna get beat again, so took it to Finland were, maybe, they knew the fight would never take place due to strict medical rules. It's not Wlads fault Haye's back ****ed up, but he's done the best thing in the circumstance. Made a top HW fight between No1 and Undefeated No3 and maybe for Ring HW Belt, first time an undisputed HW champ since Lewis retired 6 years ago. We don't know if it will be a boring fight or not, but we do know is it's the best fight that could happen at short notice and it maybe the best fight to find out a undisputed HW champ in years! So STFU whining :good:good
Hayelords said to themselves so many times that their man will beat Klitschko, they actually started to believe and pumped up for the show. And when Haye looked bad is sparring and "backed" out of the show, and Wladimir chose a better, more recognized, undefeated beltholder, that hurt their feelings.
Chagaev doesn't have what it takes to be Klitschko. He's a southpaw and he's tenative with the 1-2 being his bread and butter. If he was more fluid and inclined to engage at close range while avoiding shots to get inside, he may have a chance, but he lacks power and ESPECIALLY speed, so that's entirelly unlikely. Haye has the style to beat Wlad and the power and speed to pull it off. Chag is an easy fight. Nobody wants to see it.
I don't think you understand boxing if you really believe this. Now granted, I've recently been in the business of bein pissed off that this fight is gonna happen rather than breakin down the fight from an analytical perspective, but why don't you give it a shot and tell me why Chag is a "harder" fight. He isn't. He doesn't have the style, athleticism nor skills to get the job done.
I'm really looking forwards to it. Not as much as Wlad-Haye probably, but this is the next best possible fight.
Thanx, was getting pissed off with the stupidity of some people. (Maybe i shouldn't be writing in a forum? :think )
Agree completely. I'm a big fan of Haye and a admirer of Klitschko. There has been an astounding level of ******ness from Klitites on one hand making claims against Haye and from Hayefans/anti-Klitschko trolls on the other claiming that Klitschko should have acted otherwise. Of course Haye is legimately injured. Of course Wladimir shouldn't sit around waiting for him to get fit. Chagaev is a spectacularly good replacement opponent in the circumstances. If trolls on both side would all stfu the board would be a much better place.
A bone of contenttion for me is that the reasoning behind choosing Chagaev was that Haye may get injured again. Fine, all well and good, but this is Chagaev we are talking about. The same Chagaev that people on these forums were demanding he retire after not being able to compete against Valuev. How many fights has he pulled out of now?? If that's the case, why not just re-schedule for Haye. All in all I think Chagaev is a decent replacement but the fight itself will be Ibragimovesque - a real snoozer. I've got no real issues with Wlad not waiting, as long as Haye gets his shot. It will actually be good for Haye to have another fight at heavyweight against a McCline or Holyfield (just tossing names about here) to establish himself as a heavyweight to a greater degree.
I'm unhappy cause i was really looking forward to see Wlad against a fast guy like Haye. There was definatly going to be fireworks, and something exciting was going to happen. Both guys had built themselves right up and one of them was going to take a fall, it was going to be a great night of boxing. Now the Chagaev fight could be great, but i got a bad feeling that it will turn into another long snooze fest, with Wlad being cautious, jabbing away and walking backwards.
I'm Haye fan, but if your talking about 'as long as Haye gets his shot'. Haye hasn't actually 'earned' his shot. He pissed off the brothers enough to get a 3 fight deal out of them, which is fine by me. Haye's talk sold 60,000 tickets in a few days, whether it was to see if he could become heavyweight champ or to see him get beaten up for is big mouth, he sold those tickets. I don't think either of the brothers will turn down a chance to fight a fit Haye in the future, he's already proved he makes money in the HW division. But i would like to see him against Arreola :good
Chagaev did not pull out of the fight with Valuew, period. The last I heard Chag was ready and willing to fight but was not allowed to because of the Finnish federation's rules. That is different from pulling out (nb. Valero can not fight in the US, but ask his recent opponents if that means he isn't fit to do so...). Wlad fighting Chag should drive that point home (though I'm pretty sure it won't, as logic is a rather scarce commodity around here).