"Haye was more active than i thought..." ????????? Haye threw only 209 shots, which is slightly better than his effort against Valuev.
Imagine a fit and healthy haye with no broken hand and no broken little toe!! He would be in callzaghes numbers 1000+++
Because fighters say they are going for the KO all the time, and end up having to settle for a decision win instead. Whereas Haye's been talking **** for THREE YEARS about how he's going to destroy Klitschkos, save the division from "bums", be the new, exciting, saviour of the division, compare himself to Holyfield and Tyson. You're kidding yourself if you think Haye delivered anything impressive at all. The only impressive thing he did was avoid getting hit too much, and last the distance. Spoiling skills, survival skills - not the fighting ability he claimed to possess. I thought you picked Haye to violently KO Wlad, no ?
I wont watch the fight again, it was so boring, but from memory I could only recall and handful of rights that landed from Wlad... I was actually surprised that not one of them actually had any effect either. In 36 minutes of action Wlad landing a handful of flush rights and Haye landing 2 (3rd and 12th round) is one of the most pathetic displays of boxing I have seen. Both these guys are wildly over rated by their fans. I cant get over some of the Klitschko fans saying how near unbeatable Wlad is, to me he showed some major weaknesses that someone with Haye's ability should have exploited. Hell, Haye only needed to body feint and Wlad jumped back with his arms up around his face, he was scared of a 218lb guys power and should have been backing up all night if Haye/Booth had noticed. On the flip side, Wlad should have knocked Haye cold seeing as he fought his usual fight and had him backing up for 12 rounds. No variety at all in his punches, would have liked to have seen Haye eat some uppercuts, force him to fight... but sadly it wasnt to be. I feel sorry for Wlad in a way, this era has left him with no challenges, but I suppose if he was around from the 70s-90s he would just be a big HW with some decent skills and a lot more L's on his record. As for Haye he'd not even venture north of 200lbs in fear.
No, I said I thought Wlad would win by ko but, Haye had a better chance than many on this site gave him...I am surprised it went the distance but, I also think Wlad thought Haye had more of a chance than he stated or he would not have fought so cautiously... That being said, I think the fight showed just how skilled Wlad is...I was impressed with both guys in this one even though I wanted it to be a shoot-out..I also didn't buy into Haye's yacking before the fight, but, I did buy into Wlad's somewhat, and I know better...
Good answer but, that usually only applies when the loser is dead or will be if he wants to co-author the history book...
I'm starting to think all fighters are 'over-rated' by someone...Both Haye and Wlad showed their weeknesses in this fight but, that ignores the fact they're at the top of the division, which is somewhat sad considering Haye is a CW...Past era's is another thread though... I think Wlad is either grossly over-rated or grossly under-rated depending on who you talk to...He's a great fighter and an atg, he lacks in areas I would not expect from an atg but, he also possesses attributes that overcome those weeknesses for the present hw landscape...I still think Vitali and Wlad really water down the others opponent pool....
what i have come to notice is that the knowledgeable boxing guys here for the most part all picked wk and kept a cool demeanor about themselves before the fight knowing that anything can happen in a fight; even though it was generally common knowledge that haye was only going to win by ko and that wk would defend accordingly. when you think about it(what haye backers failed to do), a very tall order indeed. the people that picked haye here on the esb forums generally tended to be loud and obnoxious know-it-alls that proclaimed to know everything and anything about boxing. and know they have proven to know very little at all.
i've already said (for what it's worth) that wlad should get some criticism too (not nearly as much as haye). wlad didn't land much of note (tho more than haye) and he was content to avoid any and all risks and make another lackluster win (you could tell in the HBO post fight interview he knew the network and fans wouldn't be too happy as he mentioned hbo dropping him for similar results)
because wlad tried to knock haye out. But haye didn't try to bring the fight to wlad like he promised. Wlad tried to do what he promised to do but failed. Haye never even tried.