Al Bernstein on David Haye

If people want to criticize Haye, that's absolutely fine. They must also admit however, that Haye's attitude and personality gave boxing it's biggest heavyweight fight in years. Looking at the current top heavyweights, it'll be a long, long time before any heavyweight fight matches the hype that Haye/Wlad had.

In terms of big, crossover heavyweight fights, the list will go 'Lewis/Tyson > Wlad/Haye > ____' and, sadly, that "____" is not even close to being on the horizon.

People should call a spade a spade. If they dislike Haye, that's absolutely fine but if they don't mention the fact he delivered a huge event, then they are being biased.

 

Bernstein is right, of course - although I wish Haye had stuck around to get his glass jaw shattered by Vitali.

 

Wlad is a much harder hitting, better puncher than Vitali. If Wlad couldn't even slightly hurt Haye, then Vitali has no chance.

 

Haye only survived against Wlad because he ran, ducked and dived. Vitali has more killer instinct that Wlad and he wouldn't let Haye get away with that cowardly ****.

 

Exactly this, just for a brief moment Haye managed to breath life back into a division that has been in a coma for almost a decade. People can hate on Haye all they want but ****ing numptys like Al Bernstein and some Klit nuthuggers would much rather have the Klits fighting cans like Dimitrenko or disgraceful plodders like Adamek.

 

Yep, absolutely.

People say "Haye talked himself into a world title fight" and, yeah, they're right, he did. However, Haye's talk generated huge interest for the sport and that's a huge positive. People can praise quiet, respectful guys like Adamek but nobody outside of the Polish community gives a **** about his fights and if the sport was left in the hands of fighters like him, boxing would be dead within a couple of decades. Haye brought huge interest to the division and that should always be recognised. His legacy should be as a very good cruiserweight, a decent heavyweight but, most importantly, someone who dragged casual fans back to the heavyweight division and made the entire world care, even if it was for one night.

The fact is, the division was on life support before him and without him, it's even worse.

 

That's right. Vitali would never let a negative fighter last 12 rounds, as he proved when he fought Kevin Johnson.

...oh.

 

So your actually advocating an all style no substance approach to boxing. As long as your a loudmouth who can sell himself you can do whatever the **** you want? Man you must looovvvvveee Mayweather

 

Haye breathed life into the division by talking than disappointing, nothing else. This wasn´t just about the last fight, most of his other fights as a HW were garbage too. In the end, he was a negative and annoying presence that most people (outside of the UK that is) would rather do without. Bernstein is recognized as one of the best boxing analysts there is, and he tells it exactly how the majority of the boxing world sees the fiasco that was Haye´s HW campaign.


¨David Haye had the nerve to suggest he´s one of the all time greatest British boxers......and Booth suggested he is the second best cruiserweight of all time, after Holyfield....David Haye might be the most delusional athlete I have ever seen¨

- Bernstein:yep

 

No substance?


What do you consider substance? Going in there like Adamek as a sacrificial offering to the great Klitschko God Almightly? Haye fought a better fight than anyone gives him credit for, but because he refuses to just sacrifice himself, people act as if he did nothing in there.


Yeah he lost, but he brought Wlad his biggest payday (according to another thread) and that's what makes the fights happen.

 

Just like he didn't let Kevin Johnson get away with it?

oh wait......

 

People don't realise, Haye didnt fight a "cowardly" fight, he fought an "intellegant" fight.

the fact he didnt get ko'd just pisses people off, his strategy was to go in, be defensive and try and catch Wladamir off guard, he regularly tried this and in the 12th round even had wlad slightly hurt, it just didnt pay off.

Haye was never going to go in there plodding forward eating jabs, because he's not thick and unskilled.

He gave himself the best chance he could to beat a physically superior, highly skilled and experianced dominant champion. it just didnt come off and he lost a clear but not embarrasing decision in what to be honest was probably the best losing performance anyone has ever put up against a klitschko, big deal.