He was the undisputed champ from the weight down. What did Spinks do to earn a shot at Holmes? What did Jones do to earn a shot at Ruiz? The list goes on, people move up and instantly are in a title fight, Haye had 2 fights at HWT. which is more than Spinks/Jones did. Barrett isn't great but he's a capable gatekeeper level fighter, Bonin was average but his first fight at the weight. His resume at HWT. is obviously thin but his work at Cruiser is enough to enable him to get a quick title shot :good PS I'm really looking forward to Wlad-Haye, I haven't been this excited for a fight for years
I think those guys had a little more name recognition than Haye. At this point the division is so dormant, all you need is a big mouth, and you can get a title shot. Lets see if that actually equates into a fight, or if its all smoke.
Now days it is all about the money. Champions from other weight divisions in the past (as lefthook31) has mentioned had a lot more on their resume to warrant a serious challenge to the heavyweight title.
Not exactly true those fighters would have got a title shot as easily as haye if they were in an era as weak as the current onw.
But ONLY if there were enough money offered to watch it AND the guy was exceptionally talented. No one wants to pay for a PPV to watch a blownup guy from another division get blasted out by a heavyweight champ. Wouldn't be sporting nor watchable.
His first venture into HW was against Tomasz Bonin who was being touted as a top 10 contender by one of the big four organizatons. Throw in his win over 'gate keeper' Monte Barrett who fought Klitschko and Valuev for title opprotunities, I supposed that, along with him being a former world champion himself, is what makes him a contender. And really, based on that, he is every bit a solid contender choice to defend against. No better or worse, really, than Klitschko's picks of Hasim Rahman or Lamon Brewster.
All of (both) Klitschko's fights are on regular HBO. The PPV fights are either bouts that would are barely worth showing when they're not getting paid (i.e. Holyfield vs Savarese:! or the huge paydays like Mayweather vs De La Hoya. But the Klitschko's have some kind of contract that allows their fights to be on regular HBO, German RTL, Russian channel, Polish channel, etc.
Haye did a bunch at cruiser, for sure. Holyfield fought Tillis and Thomas before fighting for the Continental HW title. Defended it 3 times before fighting Buster Douglas. I would argue that Holyfield did more than Haye to earn the title shot. However, I will say that Haye is a breath of fresh air in this division. Young, powerful, and exciting. He may prove to be a bust. Time will tell.
I see Wlad Klit wearing down Haye for a mid to late rd. stoppage... Similar to what older bro. Vitali did to Juan C. Gomez last month........ The "K" bros. are the elite.... MR.BILLbbb:rasta
Bonin's high place in rankings tells more about the skills of his promotor than anything else. Still, no matter what one thinks about Bonin and Barrett (and about Haye's big mouth), he is definitely more deserving (and will make more exciting fight) than for example Rahman.
On merrit, Haye was the best cruiser, and has shown enough upside to rate as a top ten heavy. However, he is very unproven at heavyweight. I think Haye has defeated the Brittish media, becasue they think of him as the next Lennox Lewis. The odds for the next Kahn, Harriosn, or Hide is more likley. Yes-- I am playing up the flashy boxer type with poor punch resistance. If Wlad defeats Haye as I suspect he will, it will be intersting to see how Haye rebounds, and if he can work his way back to another big heavyweight fight.