Haye-Harrison, Wlad-Chisora, and Vitali-Briggs...

I may be going mental but I'm looking forward to all three. Each have their own intrigue and sub-plots.

 

I think they should though. The Klits make their fight selection obvious, they start at the top of the org rankings and work their way down. They're fairly blameless if there's nobody else to fight.

 

Exactly.

Haye fell silent, Povetkin did a runner and the rest seem content to sit around doing nothing - not even fighting each other.

I'd love to see Briggs give Vitlay a kicking though. Can't stand the *******.

 

From the outside it looks like Haye has actually chosen Harrison whereas the Klitschko's look more forced into **** fights because people like Haye, Povetkin and others wont fight them. Thats why they're rightly getting less **** for poor fights, they at least appear to try and get the biggest fights.

Haye is also the one who's been in the press the last 18 months or whatever saying he's going to do this and that to the brothers, wont be bothered with other fights he's going straight for them etc etc. And while you cant really take boxers quotes to seriously he has brought all this flak on himself.

 

I think when Audley Haye was first announced i was outraged more for the reason that was more out of frustration. Having seen the other matchups occuring in the heavyweight division it seems more understandable

Losfer is right the top 3 the belt holder need each other outside of that they just look silly which is proven by this row of fights.

 

I obviously accept that Haye has set himself up for criticism due to the way he's conducted himself over the last two years, but you could argue that both Klits didn't make their own concessions to make the Haye fight either. As I said before, the Klits need Haye as much as he needs them in this current HW scene and the fight will make much more money and mean a hell of a lot more than fights against anyone else in the division.

I'm not saying that's my personal opinion, but I am just playing Devil's advocate and I do think it's only fair to judge all 3 fights accordingly.

Bloody hell, mate. Inside of the ring, I'm not too bothered. I must admit that Audley has made the promotion quite fun thus far and Chisora is bound to drum-up massive interest should he sign to fight Wlad, though. All three are pretty terrible fights for HW titlists, though.

We could say that Haye fought his top mando as well, though. Ruiz is far better than Briggs and neither Klit ever seemed to show any interest in facing him.

Same here.

 

I dunno, I see the money side of Haye-Harrison but the big difference between Haye and the Kilts is that they've worked their way though the division so the odd soft defence is probably unavoidable. Thats not the case with Haye.

 

What can I say mate. Pulling graveyard shifts with the new baby may have affected my way of thinking. It's a poor excuse but I'm sticking to it.

Yes, on paper they are not great fights but we're used to poor pickings from the sport's greatest division, historically. So I'm scraping the barrel and trying to find positives. Other than Haye v Klit/Adamek I don't see much more that can better the upcoming trio of fights.

 

What are Rob Palmer's thoughts on this?

Had he not called the Klits out non-stop for ages then I think Haye would have got away with a few 'softish' defences without hearing too many voices of dissent; just look at how the titlists in the division were going about their business before Haye moved up, before Vitali came back and before Wlad unified two of the titles with Ibragimov. Haye has sort of accidentally upset the original fans he had as a result of realising that he doesn't need the Klits as much as before. I docompletely understand why he's biding his time and isn't jumping in with either one ASAP, but the Harrison fight is terrible; that said, it is the next logical money-maker outside of a fight with either Klit.

I've discussed this with you before, Gaz, but I think Haye was struck by how big the title of 'HW Champ' is to the general public. He's realised all of a sudden that he doesn't need the high risk of a Klit fight any time soon to make a name for himself or megamoney, and he now also knows that he can wait for whenever he feels ready and/or he completey agrees with the terms he's offered by the Klits.

Getting one of the titles has changed the business strategy he once had. It set people up to be disappointed, but Haye is in a better situation now than he ever was with regards to negotiating power with the Klits. Unfortunately, the newfound bargaining power is getting in the way of the God damn fight being made as well. Catch-22.

Congrats:thumbsup.

Indeed, the calibre of all 3 of these fights show how lacking the division is outside of the titlists.

 

I'd make Haye a favourite to beat Vitali.

For some reason many people (including Haye obviously it seems) believe that he's this undentable monster despite having beaten hardly anybody of note ever, and giving an old Lewis a good fight, that he lost fair and square.

If he doesn't fancy his chances against Wlad fair enough, I wouldn't fancy him to win either...... but the kudos and ££££££ that he'd get from beating Vitlay twice (because no doubt there'd be a rematch clause) would far outweigh some easy defences against the likes of Fraudley.

 

Chisora is far far a more legitimate choice of opponent than Harrison is. Its quite shocking to see how Audleys stock has rocketed just since signing to fight Haye, Audley is a guy who is struggling to get to the top of the UK domestic scene..let alone the world scene. At least Chisora has put in performances that give the impression of being No.2 behind Haye.
Chisora would dominate Audley, the only realistic outcome you could predict for Chisora-Harrison is a Chisora stoppage win.

Briggs is just a shot US contender, he packs a punch but its clear he has nothing to give Vitali the slighest bit of problem.

Chisora-Wlad is the best HW fight out of the three.....Chis will get stopped but it would be the best fight.

 

The very fact that Fraudley, Del-boy and Briggs are anywhere near title bouts shows the Heavyweight division up to be the joke that we all hoped it wasn't.

 

Totally agree Los. I've said all along that its as simple as the goalposts have moved for Haye since he won a HW belt. Options have opened up for him that wern't there when he was just a Cruiserweight moving up.

Its not rocket science....

 

Interesting. That actually sounds quite plausible since he wants to retire soon. However it would mean squeezing in another non-Klitschko fight after Audley, or co-promoting one of the fights if he's planning on fighting them both.

:think

 

The reason Haye is getting a lot more **** is because for two years he has attacked the Klitschkos for fighting bums.
How can you attack them for doing it and then sign to fight a man who was beat by Martin Rogan?