When David Haye moved to the division he immediately took a good fight against Barret coming off a big KO of Fields. I was like he is not kidding around he is trying to make a splash. He won the fight by stoppage and said he was going to resemble Holyfield. I thought that it was great because Holyfield when he moved up won 6 fights against all tough heavys. His first fight when moving up was Tillis who I would say is like another Barret. Well instead of fighting a series of guys before challenging he went straight for the title and won. Now that he has a belt instead of making the biggest fights or even facing the two brothers he is having mandatory after mandatory "something the WBA likes to do" He has Ruiz which is a good matchup but some how I feel he will get shoved in with Valuev again like the WBA does to most of their champs at the weight, gives them free shots. Adamek is doing what I wish Haye did. Moved up and beat an old but very good veteran test. Then beat an American Olympian battle tested vs guys like Povetkin and Whitaker. Now he hopes to take on a comebacking Arreola who always is tough and always comes to fight. And Adamek can be giving up 40 pounds or so. Not to mention the only man to beat him is Vitali and that took him 10 rounds to accomplish. I hope Adamek continues to win and continues to clean the division before earning a title. This way alot of the pretenders still around are cleared up and he can make himself a more credible challenger. I'm not knocking Haye at all he did what he had to and went his way and he has a belt. But I think Adamek fighting his way to the title shot is very exciting. Hes doing it like they did in the old days before 4 titles and you could move up to an immediate shot.
he looked naff v estrada so hes possibly doing himself harm Haye went straight for a belt cause hes knows its chinny - simples
You'd rather Haye fought 6 fights against less than interesting opponents? Really? Is that what we need? I think you're making a mountain out of a mole hill...Haye has one mandatory obligation to John Ruiz as he was paid step aside money for the Valuev fight. After that he's free to pursue any avenue.
I would have loved to see Haye clean out some of the guys still lingering, not bums ranked guys who could fight. With the belt he will probably have to fight them now any way when they get their title shot. I mean he could have fought Austin, Meehan, Chambers, Povetkin, Areolla, I'm not knocking Haye I just thought it would have been more exciting.
I wouldn't put Austin or Meehan in the particularly exciting category. I think its worked out pretty well. If he deals with Ruiz which is a decent test the Klitschko negotiations will likely be back on. Haye already has enough press to make that a huge fight, also bringing a title unification to the table now. As for Arreola and Povetkin, maybe in the future.
I think Haye has always had this in the back of his mind, hes probably got more resistance than he thinks he does, fighting with a bit of fear is probably best for Haye On the subject Adamek doesnt look to be a natural heavyweight so hes bideing his time to allow himself to grow into the weight which is fine by me. Haye is different and was outgrowing the division which meant he was ready to take on Valuev when he did:smoke
He hasn't fought a single mandatory yet! You're just a hater. How can he have fought "mandatory after mandatory" when his last fight was for the title? Hater.
I thought that Valuev had a rematch clause with it being a voluntary defense, I think people are concerned that by the time that's out the way the WBA may line up another mandatory. The concern is that Haye may not be "free to pursue any avenue" for 3 fight and with modern boxers that's at least 18 months, by which time Vitali will surely be retired. I think it is a legitimate concern that some of the better match-ups might slip past. If the WBA clusters Haye's schedule I'd like to see him drop the belt and go for Vitali or Wladamir- I hope it doesn't come to this and we can see a genuine heavyweight unification fight. We'll have to see how this one plays out...
I had actually hoped Haye was going to be a heavyweight version of Nigel Benn and blow though the division taking on all comers but as another poster put it " he knows he's a bit chinny"
No he's not. He also has to honor the Valuev rematch clause, at least at this point. Supposedly Valuev is willing to waive it if he gets the Vitali fight and gets paid off a bit, but at this point, his next three fights will need to be against Ruiz, then Valuev, then Meehan (who's been a mandatory for that belt for about 2 1/2 years now).
Just relax man, it is all to come. You can't have a go at him for wanting to take a fight he was conifident of winning and trying to fulfill his dream of becoming a HW champ. His first mandatory is Ruiz and once he beats him you will see him against a Klit, providing Valuev let's it go ahead. He knows what he has to do. After the whole scenario involving the Klit's before, if he talks about fighting either one again his image/ability is at stake as many thought he ducked them last time - and i can't see him doing that again.
So you're saying he shouldn't have fought Valuev? The heavyweight division needs big exciting fights to happen, and Vitali is not a young man anymore so I think it's good that Haye got rid of Valuev and hopefully a unification fight can happen between Haye and Vitali, and later maybe Wlad.