08 is the year the British Heavy Weights regain focus and get themselves back together. Danny Williams has made his come back, Audley Harrison is also this weekend, Matt Skelton fights for the European title soon and the unstoppable David Haye will move up and fight in late Setember. This year all those guys are going to find their feet in the division, get back to grips with fighting and put right whats wrong with what went before. 09 will be the time when these guys put right whats wrong with the joke of an Heavy Weight division we have now. By that time all four will be looking to fight for a version of the World championship belt. Danny Williams has been an enigma to British boxing fans for years. The guy has serious talent, a good chin and a great punch. Danny has everything needed to be a dominant force in the division and is more than a match for any of the current belt holdres. His blip loss to Vitali Klitschko was we all know a serious fluke and another disapointment in the big man's career. Once he becomes fully focused and fit he will be the number one player in the division and the man to beat. I can not see any foriegn fighter being able to live with him. Audley Harrison is another fantastic British Heavy Weight with serious skill but has lacked desire in the past which has cost him and made him drop daft results. Audley has now found that focus after coming back from his serious injuries in the car crash he suffered and the loss of his brother. Audley fights on the undercard of the Hopkins-Calzaghe fight and will be looking to get rid of abit of ring rust. Serious fights against contendres should not be far away and a potential destruction of a bum like Tony Thompson or Juan Krasniqui should lead to a title fight in 09. Matt Skelton has felt the pain of being robbed in Germany against a joke opponent so now he knows what he needs to do to win the belt. First up a routine win for the Euro belt and then a re-match with Chagatheif. Matt's style and chin will make him unbeatable once he wins the belt. Finally, the amazing hayemaker David Haye. Maybe the best boxer in the division already and a definate pound for pound contender, ATG and future HOF resident. Once the big guy comes back the rest of the division may well just drop the belts because I doubt any Heavy Weight will be willing to risk it all in the ring with Haye. By mid 09 Britain should have ownership of all the noted versions of the world belt. Unification fights will follow but is hard to choose a clear winner, Haye has the edghe but not much.
Audrey "Spent Force" Harrison will never get near a decent title. Williams is too old and wasnt good enough in his prime. Skelton may get another shot but isnt as good as any of the existing heavies. Haye - fair comment he looks like a cracking package! I dont fancy his chances against the big heavies immediately but lets see how he's doing in about a years time. I'm interested to know what decent amateurs are coming through across the pond. I seriously expect David Price to bring us back a gold from Beijing and step up and do what Fraudley was saying he was gonna do - win a proper title!
Matt Skelton, Danny Williams and Audley Harrison are not outstanding heavyweights. But if Sam Peter and Ruslan Chagaev can win titles, why not them? Skelton, who is the oldest and least talented of the three, managed to hang with Chag for 12 rounds. So maybe your not as crazy as you first appear. Danny Williams on his day is capable of winning a world title. The man who destroyed Mike Tyson and Kali Meehan was a very dangerous fighter. When he has his head right, and when he's in shape, he could achieve great things. His heart is unquestionable. However at this age, and after so many horrific beatings and wars, I'm not sure he's ever likely to make a serious title challenge, even if he does get into shape. Audley Harrison isn't just good enough to pickup a title belt, he has the raw natural talent to be an outstanding heavyweight. If he had Danny Williams' heart and some killer instinct he'd be a monster. But I wouldn't put my faith in him now. He's had his chances, he blew them, and at 36 he's too old to re-build his career. I saw all I needed to see when he lost to Dominick Guinn. Its almost pityable to watch a 6ft6, 260lbs monster get bossed around by a man half his size. David Haye is a different story. He's a good boxer with natural power and unparalleled athletic ability. There's no-one with his combination of speed, reflexes and aggression in the whole division. He's going to give Klitschko nightmares. All of those fighters are flawed in one way or another, but they could still pick up a title. How is Danny Williams or Matt Skelton any different to Shannon Briggs or Lamon Brewster? At least Williams can go 12 rounds, unlike those two, and yet they won and defended world titles very recently! Sam Peter is just another slow, plodding banger like Matt Skelton, yet he won a title! Sergei Lyakovich, Ruslan Chagaev, Sultan Ibragimov are undersized and unspectacular, and have only picked up titles due to the weakness of the division. Nicolay Valuev is a mediocre boxer who is a contender mainly due to his freakish size advantage. The only heavyweights out there worth anything are the Klitschko brothers. With any luck the next few years will see David Haye, Eddie Chambers, Odliander Solis and Alexander Povetkin step up to take over the division and make it interesting again. Until then, the likes of Harrison, Skelton and Williams are in with a good shout of winning a title.
Wow i thought i was going to hear about some new young talent out of Britain not this WISHFULL thinking BS. All the above are garbage.
David Haye is not garbage, he's got a lot of skill, whether or not that's going to carry over to the big guys remains to be seen, but hes a good fighter.. The others aren't the A class of the division definitely but they're not garbage either. They're accomplished.
I've always been a big fan of Danny Williams but his best days are obviously behind him. Audley Harrison? Please. David Haye is the real British threat.
His blip loss to Vitali Klitschko was we all know a serious fluke" A serious fluke? Vitali was 10x a better fighter than Williams ever was. Its not like it was a one punch random knockout. Vitali dominated and toyed with him for 8 rounds before finally putting him out. Wlad would do the same thing. Fraudly, Williams and Haye are your picks for domination in 2009? :rofl :rofl :rofl
The only proven heavyweight that Britain have really is Matt Skelton, on the domestic level there is the Irish contingient Martin Rogan who recently won the prizefighter tournament ... apart from that there is reletively just David Haye who is hardly tested at the higher weight.. I would love to see him prove himself against large heavys.. Audley i think is a reletive enigma.. he promised a lot and brought very little after a great winning streak..
Reasonable points about the weakness of the division, but wlad will likely consolidate the belts, and williams and fraudley will be long gone by the time wlad retires. but there's also serious doubts as to any of the guys (excluding haye for a moment) even being able to beat peter, the winner of chagaev/valuev, and povetkin (who has a fair shot of obtaining a belt). williams has talent and heart, but is rarely in any kind of shape. also please refrain from saying williams destroyed tyson. tyson destroyed him up until his knee injury and battered the guy for 1 and 1/2 rounds.
Williams is B level fighter with talent to be A level. Has trouble with his wheight, poor footwork, poor head movement, questionable defensive skills. I believe his shortcomings could be fixed with the right work ethic, but at 34 years old I doubt it will happen. Skelton is also B level. Old, questionable skills but a lot of heart, toughness and hunger. Audley has some skills, power and size, can make it to a championship fight if he is lucky to handpick his opponents till there, but that's it. He has no heart, no hunger, no HW chin and questionable defensive skills. Haye, on the other hand, is the real and only deal. He should be a top HW for the next years and, IMO, the one with the best chance at beating Wlad.
Forget Williamd, Harrison and Skelton, they are too old and all have had there opotunity and failed. David Haye however is somebody to keep an eye on! He is what the division needs!