I just don't attach that much signifigance to flash KD's early in his career. Last night was the best version of Haye that we've seen. He's improved a lot, even since the Barrett fight. Also, strange as it may be, some fighters' chins improve when they move up in weight.
Forget the chin ,Haye claims he damaged his right hand last night. If true who can speculate if it will cause him some long term trouble. Imagine a Haye minus his right hand bombs. He will have to do alot more running if his hand is ****ed.
And if he got KO'd by a Klitschko or Tua like about 100 other guys that means its Grade A china, right? So if its good enough to not be KO'd by Valuev or Ruiz but not good enough to survive the above fighters then its Grade A china. A fail in logic.
I agree that's possible. Some have argued that Haye's punch resistance problems may have been due to weight-draining - as seemed to be the case for Miquel Cotto when he was fighting at lighter weights. My point, however, is that we can't conclude that this is the case off this fight or the Ruiz fight. These guys aren't talented enough, or hard-enough hitters, to really test Haye or his punch resistance.
When he was at cruiser, you said when he fights an elite cruiserweight, he'd get stopped. He fought Mormeck. You said when he fights a big punching cruiserweight, he'd get stopped. He then fought Maccarinelli. You guys said when he was at cruiser and talking of stepping up, the first heavyweight he fights will knock him out. He fought Barrett. You guys then said that when he fights a big heavyweight, hell be knocked out. He fought the biggest elite heavyweight in history. Now you say that when he fights a genuine puncher, he will be knocked out. A puncher like Tua, Klitschko, Louis or Dempsey. All heavyweights who have stopped granite chinned fighters such as Baer, Willard, Brewster and Izon. Keep moving the goalposts
Nothing to do with that, actually. I am a "yank," but I will be rooting HARD for Haye to knock that cheating disgrace John Ruiz out when they fight. I do think, however, that it is a legitimate question whether Haye can handle legitimate punchers at HW - something that has NOT been settled by the Valuev fight, and won't be settled by the Ruiz fight. Therefore, his chin is STILL questionable!
Haye is brilliant, number three in the world at heavy, maybe four if you rate Solis. I'm a huge fan. But, yes, his chin is questionable, in the same way that WK's is. What you have to admire about both is how they've constructed brilliant (and very different) defences to get around their deficiencies. Just like Lennox did (only he is obviously a class apart, and had a better beard than the pair of em - VK proved that). But if the point of this thread is to discredit Haye, that's wrong. You should be praising him from the masterful defence last night that ensured the big guy couldn't wear down that dodgy chin. Haye is class. The end.
I think we probably attach too much significance to 'chin'. Haye knows he hasn't get the best chin in the world (see the interview after the Mock fight) but that becomes less of an issue when you have some of the 'masking' attributes that Haye has, which mean he isn't going to get pinned down and clocked by big, cumbersome HW's all that often. Ok, Haye hasn't got a LaMotta like chin, but he's no Amir Khan either.
Any boxer who doesn't walk through bombs by knockout artists has a Grade-A china chin, you should know that by now. There is no middle ground between glass and granite.
I agree on your assessment of Haye's chin, it's nowhere near the Amir Khan level (who is?). And, he has crafted a strategy of apparently protecting against this weakness. Whether it is one that is gonna win him many fans is another question. As a longtime boxing fan, I did not find his performance particularly pleasing, outside of what he did in the 12th. He needs to be more offensive if he is gonna become the "HW savior" he is touted as. I think he may go at Ruiz harder. Ruiz is an even lighter hitter at HW than Valuev is, and Haye should be able to be more aggressive in that fight, without having to worry about being knocked out. But the very fact that he has to make these adjustments, which you admit he does, proves that his chin IS significant.
Haye will unify the division. The biggest obstacle in valuev is now out of the way. Everyone else he fights will get knocked the f%ck out! God save the queen.