A HW career analysis: "Would have" and "if" - these words summarise David Haye

Has anyone else noticed the constant excuses people (predominantly casuals) make for Haye?

It's always "David Haye would smash....*name any fighter*"
"If didn't Haye didn't hurt his toe, he would have smashed Wlad."
"If he had've fought an ageing Vitali, he would have definitely smashed him."
"If he didn't tweak his Achilles (remember, it doesn't actually need surgery and he was released from hospital quite quickly) he'd have smashed Bellew."
"If Haye didn't sustain a cut days before the Fury fight and then somehow needed shoulder surgery he would have smashed him."

Let's look at his HW resume:
Tomasz Bonin: His first HW fight, ranked number 11 by WBC. Fair enough. Easy night. KO 1.

Monte Barrett: Never impressed me, was small, easy to hit and despite getting dropped, Haye walked through him. Still easing his way into the division.

Nikolai Valuev: Arguably the most boring HW title fight in history. Props to Haye for taking on someone so much bigger, but to call Valuev a great boxer is laughable. He had very little power for such a huge man, his mobility was non-existant and he retired after this fight because his body was already broken down. Haye and Booth's gameplan was to just run around him all night and picked the odd shot to shade a MD.

John Ruiz: A tough man who was long past his prime at this point. Made for a punching bag for the first few rounds and actually gave Haye a little bit of trouble at times. An unimpressive win, again.

Audley Harrison: Good old Fraudley. Built up after being in the Olympics and he didn't live up to any hype or expectations whatsoever. Always looked intimidated while in the ring and he must have threw around 5 punches in the three rounds. Like the Bellew fight, there was a lot of trash talki (to maximise the revenue) and these two are known to be good friends who gave each other a nice payday.

Wladimir Klitschko: Haye "guaranteed" a first round KO against the main man in the division. He said he knew how to stop Wlad's jab and would decapitate him. It was obvious from the fourth round that Haye knew he couldn't win. Klitschko was too big, too smart and too strong. It was another very boring fight that both men were happy to just dance around each other and not exchange much heavy leather. Nevertheless, they both made massive money. Credit to Haye's speed, head movement and alertness in this fight. It was absolutely fantastic. This was him in his athletic prime. Last night he was a shadow of that.

Dereck Chisora: A European/fringe world level opponent in yet another "grudge match." Just remember, guys, as obvious as it is - Haye doesn't really have genuine hatred for any of these guys. They know the game. Build it up, use all sorts of dramatic rhetoric and maximise the revenue. After the fight, kiss and make up because we're both a lot richer. Regardless, Haye showed he could do something Vitali Klitschko couldn't and that was knock Del Boy out. It was a tough workout for him and he was in trouble once or twice but Chisora was too sloppy and got nailed with some blistering shots. This was Haye's last good fight.

Mark de Mori: I gave him a by-ball for this fight because of his long layoff. Ok, he wanted an easy fight in his comeback and to look good. De Mori learned to fight on YouTube and was a pro bodybuilder. Completely useless.

Arnold Gjergjaj: This really should have been the Briggs fight. I can't summarise how pathetic this was. He took a dive with a jab and the crowd largely booed when the fight was over.

Tony Bellew: Yet another "grudge" match against a man I've never been that impressed with - both at LHW and CW. The build-up was unbelievable and both men proved they are two of the best salesmen in the business. Haye guaranteed (yet again) a first round KO and it became apparent right away to me that he was going to struggle. He was slow, clumsy, threw wild, predictable, telegraphed punches. Bellew countered him well and Haye looked nothing like the man he was say around 2007/2008. He could he be though? Are any of you really more athletic now than you were 10 years ago? Yes, the injury proved very helpful to Bellew but this fight showed me (even before to the sixth round) that Haye would struggle against the likes of Parker, Fury, Joshua, Wilder, Ortiz, Whyte, Jennings etc.

An elite level CW and one of the best in that weight division 100%. Was he ever an elite HW? If only...