If Haye avoids the Klitschkos after Ruiz…can you blame him?

Haye made about £5m/$7.5m against Valuev because of UK PPV earnings and I can’t think he’ll get much less for the Ruiz fight because he’ll have a better share of the earnings and his profile is now huge in the UK. Outside the ring he can milk his “heavyweight championship” for commercial earnings. OK, those figures aren’t as much as the Klitschkos make but they are huge sums compared to what Haye earned at cruiser. Haye’s only 29 so there’s no rush for him. He must want to make his money and although the richest fight will be against a Klitschko a loss there would destroy his earning power.

If Haye has any sense he will try to build a US fanbase before fighting a Klitschko because the US market is where the big money is, and if Haye can tap into that it will strengthen his bargaining position with the brothers. Haye has the charisma to win over US fans especially because people are desperate to see someone topple the Klits. He therefore needs a couple of exciting defences to gain popularity (and Ruiz probably won’t help his cause on that score). Arreola would be an obvious opponent. B-Hop has been mentioned and you can see why Haye would fancy that – big name, low risk. A shoot-out against the likes of Tua or Peter could be very fan-friendly also.

If Haye fights a Klitschko today he’s get perhaps £10m/$15m but if he loses his earning potential crumbles. Alternatively he could make £5m/$7.5m a fight for three more fights, and then, if he successfully raises his profile stateside, he might end up making £20m/$30m for a Klitschko fight. Boxing careers are short and dangerous. Could you blame Haye for trying to maximise his retirement fund?

I really think in the short term the Klitschkos need Haye more than he needs them. The Klits have made their money and need some credible names on their records. Plus, Haye could actually capture the US public’s imagination and give the Klits a chance to be part of a true event fight. But Haye hasn’t made his money yet and can make good money off his UK fans alone. He doesn’t need to lose to a Klitschko any time soon…

 

Can't blame him tbh.

Its clear as day he's not going to beat the Klitschkos, I dont want to say a fighter is actually petrified of another fighter, but it looks to be the case in this one. Haye knows his chin isnt that great, and to beat either Wladimir or Vitali right now you've got to be able to bring hell, you've got to be able to take a punch to give a punch.

From one perspective, I'd say make as much money as he possibly can, filling out stadiums in the UK, and then cash out big time against Vitali or Wladimir and ride off in the sunset. He looks to be taking that route too, fighting Valuev, Ruiz and probably someone the likes of Arreola / Adamek after that.

 

Yeah, I can blame him, due to the fact that he talks so much sh*t about beating the Klitschko's. It's time for Haye to get knocked out. And yes, from a financial standpoint, it might even be wise to duck the Brothers Klitschko.

 

Hayes says he's going to retire before his 31st birthday and he will. I honestly do believe he wants to fight both of them but he now knows his box office worth. I hope they can come to some sort of agreement but I fear that may never happen and of course Haye will be accused of ducking them

 

Cannot blame Haye really for avoiding them. If he makes a huge amount of money for a Wlad fight then, if he loses it's no big deal. But if the money is poor, then surely Haye can defend the WBA belt against Sexton, Audley etc in the UK and make big bucks. If you got £2m for fighting Wlad or £1.25m for the Audley's etc, which would you take? Risk versus reward. Haye seems pretty clever.

 

As a person I couldn't blame him, but as a prizefighter.... that's a ***** move especially after calling both out in that fashion.

 

Apart from the last paragraph about Klitschkos needing Haye I think your spot on mate.

The reality is both sides can make a lot of money not fighting each other. If Wladimir fights Haye he will double his money but the is risk 5 or 6 times higher than his usual opposition. Sure he'll still be favourite but his risk of ruin goes from 5% to say 25%. The same goes for Haye the risk reward will never make sense while both sets of fans are happy paying for uncompetitive fights.

I dont think either side truly wants the fight at this time irrelevant of what they say in interviews.

 

Sure I can blame him for being a *****.

You don't call out people then duck them because you hope to make more money.

If you run your mouth, back it up.

 

He has no excuses now. He already has excuses for running from the brothers before. He can't run no more.

 

Actually thats exactly what you can do because it's a business. Of course this can lead to him losing the respect of some of the children on here who seem to think boxing's some sort of soap opera.

Somehow I think he can probably live with the situation.

 

It’s a fair point about Haye’s trashtalk but I think when he was running his mouth last year he was willing to step up. A Klitschko fight made sense for Haye a year ago. It would have been a big payday and Haye couldn’t make that kind of money by himself because he was little known. Furthermore Valuev was being kept away from live opponents and Haye probably didn’t expect a WBA shot. Haye was signed to fight Wladimir but then his UK TV money (and the only money he would have got for the fight) was jeopardised because the company went bankrupt so he had to pull out or fight for free.

Once Haye got the Valuev fight, and then the belt, everything changed – not least because Haye went from being virtually unknown in the UK to being a big name, the biggest star here after Ricky Hatton (bigger than any overseas star, even Pacquiao). Haye trashtalked the Klitschkos last year at a time when he would have fought them. Now that he can make big money without fighting them he might be rethinking whether it’s worth the risk.

 

Link?

 

bruthead, it's nice to see a post about the business and financial side. About the risk/reward considerations. I am no fan of Haye, but I agree with your post.

I highly doubt he will face the Klits anytime soon. Why would he? He can defend his belt against guys that are more beatable and still making him millions of pounds per fight for much much less risk. Plus he can get rematch clauses against the voluntary defenses, which strengthen his risk/reward profile.

At the same time, most of his loyal British fans (and I don't mean that derogatory) probably don't mind him fighting the WBA bums for the time being. They will still happily tune in and pay the 15 quid whenever he fights. Just like the Klits can fight bums in Germany and still get 50k and 60k live gates.

 

This is the side of pro boxing that is disgraceful. Some of the most interesting fights never get made because guys don't want to take a chance of ruining their earning power. But it's been happening since day one. John L Sullivan wouldn't fight Peter Jackson. Jack Dempseys promoter refused to stage a fight between Jack and Harry Wills. Jack Johnson wouldn't give Sam Langford a shot at the title because he hated him.Cus D'mato wouldn't let Floyd Patterson fight Zora Foley or Cleveland Williams.
But to think that after all that mouth, Haye won't fight a Klitschko is infuriating. But that remains to be seen. After Hayes fight with Ruiz, lets see what the guy has to say for himself. He may surprise us and actually fight Wlad or Vitali.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/nov/09/david-haye-valuev-ruiz-klitschko

"If projections are right, Haye will make £5m from this fight. The pay-per-view figures at Sky are expected to get close to a million, which is not far short of the sort of numbers Ricky Hatton used to post."